


Heroes of Sleinad Kcaj

by Apoclypse1985



Category: High Fantasy - Fandom
Genre: Diaper, Diapers, F/M, Spanking, Spankings, redemption of a fallen soul
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 101,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26676691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apoclypse1985/pseuds/Apoclypse1985
Summary: this is a high fantasy story using assets from the Dungeons and Dragons universe. It is my actual campaign done in story format with the ABDL aspect added to it
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue and The Goblin Rebellion

Prologue

The planet of Terra Sigma is a planet much like that of planet earth. The recorded year for Terra Sigma would be 4999M.D. (which is about 2799 A.D.). In the first year of M.D. an earthquake, that was considered a planet shaker, caused all technology to be buried and all records to be destroyed.

For nearly 5 millennia the people of Terra Sigma have worked to become whole again. It has been extremely difficult, for during the years of 3500-4999 wars were fought which had the appearance of destroying the rest of the inhabitants of the planet.

In the year of 4022 a prophecy was made foretelling the birth of a man who would bring peace to the land of Sleinad Kcaj, which is the largest kingdom on the planet.

Fifty years ago Prince Gorgash was born. As he grew it became apparent to even the most unobservant person that he had an unnatural skill not only in the fighting and mystic arts but also in diplomacy. Most of the priests and nobles of the country believed that he was the person of whom the prophecy foretold.

Ten years ago Prince Gorgash succeeded his father, King Trofmoc the Strong. In a matter of months after being crowned, Gorgash met with the leaders of the Trevlac, whom are similar to nomads however, they are trained in combat starting at no younger than the age of four. In three days after meeting with the Trevlac leaders a peace agreement was reached and peace was brought to the war torn land…. OR SO THEY THOUGHT.

[Dimetrius…Dimetrius…Wake up Dimetrius.] A voice like that of an old man said to a young man of about twenty eight.

Groaning the young man says in a sleepy voice. “Boccob…Is that you? I…I must have been having a nightmare I dreamed I betrayed your trust and then was turned into a corrupt by Mephistopheles and betrayed my friends who killed me shortly after.” 

[That was no dream Dimetrius you did betray me and your friends and you are dead. You can never return to the world of which you knew. However there is something big happening that requires the aid of someone of your skill. I am going to offer you a chance to redeem yourself and purify your wrongs unto me.] Boccob replied in a disappointed voice like that of a father who caught his child being naughty

“My lord I will do anything to make up for my bad deeds to you. Anything, just tell me what to do and I shall do all I can to see it done.” Dimetrius said pleadingly not liking the idea of his being dead and knowing that if he was forced to move on he would be in eternal pain for betraying his deity.

[Very well Dimetrius you will be given the chance. I will give you a new body to inhabit and place you on a new world. Your first task is to find three heroes, one of shadow, one of an adventurous spirit and one of light to journey with you on this quest. You will find out more when you start your search. However to ensure your behavior I am going to give you a punishment as well. Until you complete all the tasks I have to give you to prevent a cataclysm on this new world. You will be forced to need Nappies and help changing when needed. If you try and change yourself you will feel as though you are being spanked severely.] Boccob said firmly causing the air to quiver with power.

Whimpering at this stipulation but realizing the alternative choice Dimetrius says, “Yes my lord. I will obey.” 

With a crack of thunder a mirror appears with a beam of light over it allowing Dimetrius to see it and as he approaches it Boccob says, [To show I am still a nice god I will let you attempt to design your new body. You can choose any race, any gender, and everything down to the smallest detail. However I retain final say so chose carefully because if I do not agree with a choice I will change it.]

Thinking about all the races he knew of and how things were in his old world he bites his lip in his androgynous state. “Can I be someone who has a high level of dragon blood but is not pure dragon? Like say half dragon or something?”

[Dragons exist in harmony with the humanoid races of this world and have the ability to shape shift to a humanoid form. I will let you choose between one of 5 breeds of dragon, black, green, brass, white and blue.] Boccob replied after a moment’s thought. 

“I think blue would be nice please.” Dimetrius said before he felt pain on his form as scales grew where his skin used to be and were tinted a sapphire blue in the light.

“Interesting.” He said turning sideways to see if he had a tail or wings. To his disappointment he didn’t have either but shrugged not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Um…I think I will stay being a boy. And um…well…can I have a slightly larger um…package than I did in my previous body? Pretty please?” He says after admiring his self in the mirror. 

Chuckling Boccob says, [Alright. And with a crack Dimetrius felt a new pair of genitals grow and then stop when he saw he was rather well endowed.] 

“I’m not sure how hair works with part blood dragons but I always liked having long hair. Can it be to the middle of my back maybe knee length please my lord?”

Suddenly Demetrius’s hair grew down to his middle butt and turned a deeper shade of blue than his scales. 

“Very nice. Um…let’s see…race, gender, hair length, I guess I should pick a height and build too. Let’s say…six feet even. Maybe a build like an agile fighter, though I want to retain my spell casting prowess…however you think is best for that sir."

Watching his body lengthen in the mirror and fill out more Dimetrius nods as it stops to more of a farmhand’s body where he is strong but not so strong as to go toe to toe with the brawlers he liked to watch when he was alone in the city pubs. Noticing his eyes were a yellow petunia color with pale blue sclera and a midnight blue pupil with a purple hue he grinned and let them be. “I…I think I am done my lord. Is there anything else you would like to add…apart from my uncontrollable bladder and bowels?” 

[There is. As you are in a body of a new race I will endow you with the knowledge of its abilities and weaknesses. Then I will send you to the world to be born as a baby and grow to this form. This will give you twenty-eight years to get used to your body and learn all you can of this world and its people before you need start your journey. I have chosen your mother to be the dragon and your father a farmer who supplies the capital city of Sleinad Kcaj with produce on a seasonal basis.] Boccob said.

With a sudden pressure in his head Dimetrius starts crying like a baby and as he opens his eyes he sees a blue scaled woman smiling down happily at him. From his vantage point she looked colossal and he looked down to see he was sitting in the remains of a giant egg before he was lifted up in a towel and wrapped up in it by a man who looked to be about thirty and well-tanned with a very solid build from a life of hard farming. 

“Sweetie he is beautiful. What shall we name our son.” The man said as he took a rag to Demetrius’s head to clean off the embryonic goo from the egg. 

“I was thinking Dimetrius. It just “feels” right for some reason. And you know I always listen to my “feelings” when it is something important.” The Dragon woman said giving baby Dimetrius a kiss on the head and rocking him gently to calm his crying down.

Smiling the man says, “As you wish dear. Hello Dimetrius, welcome to Sleinad Kcaj and our family.” And he too kisses the baby Dimetrius on the head.

Chapter 1: The Goblin Rebellion.

“Dimetrius you ready son? We have to get to the city before noon if we are going to unload this seasons pickings.” A fifty-nine year old man called from the cart that was hitched to some horses and filled with several baskets of produce.

“Coming papa, mama was just changing me for the trip and the day.” Dimetrius said coming out of the house with a traveler’s backpack filled with his extra changing supplies in case he needed them. 

With a sigh Dimetrius’s father said, “Alright then. Get on up here and I will let you drive the cart today but don’t push the horses.” 

With an excited squeal Dimetrius put his bag in the back of the cart and leapt up onto the seat next to his dad. Taking the reins he snapped them a couple times sending the horses into a trot driving them to town as his mother Sapphire Wind waved them goodbye from the doorway her belly nice and big with her second egg.

After an hour and a half Dimetrius says quietly, “Papa…can I ask you something without you going bonkers on me.” 

“If it is about you going to the castle and taking up knight training I already told you no. you don’t have the strength for that kind of life. I would know I tried when I was fifteen and I barely missed out on it. You are nowhere as strong as I was.” His father said gruffly as he lit a long stemmed pipe.

“It’s not that papa. I was wondering…well…mama has been teaching me all the magic she knows and I’m really good at it. She said if you said it was okay I could come to town every week to train at the temple under the priests of Boccob as a sorcerer.”

“I’ll think about it. For now let’s get to our spot and start selling the goods. If you behave and we sell enough I might let you go look around to get yourself a treat.” He replied as they entered the market square of the town just north of the general goods shop and the brothel where all the street vendors peddled their goods. 

Parking the cart where they normally did Dimetrius unloads his bag from the back and then proceeds to put basket after basket on display showing off nice thick tomatoes, huge squash’s, potatoes the size of a barbarians fist and huge ears of corn. By the time they he had the baskets set up and the money box set, the sun was just clearing the horizon and city walls.

“Alright son we have an hour or so before the market officially opens if you need to do anything then you best go do it. I want you back here before the swarm of people hit our stand.” His dad says.

“Yes Papa. I’ll be back soon I just wanted to go pay respects to Bahamut and Boccob.” Dimetrius says.

“Alright then hurry up and give them my regards please.” His father replied.

Running along Dimetrius got to the temple that housed all the gods except Pelor as he was given his own temple which was doubled as an orphanage.

Once inside Dimetrius finds the arch with Bahamut’s figure and lights a stick of incense then offers a silent prayer praising the love he felt for and from the dragons that he knew and that he only wished to make the king of the dragons proud. When he was done with Bahamut’s altar he went to Boccob’s and lit a stick of incense there as well and no sooner had he placed it in the receptacle for it than he heard a deep voice of an old man. [Dimetrius how are you my boy. Do you remember me? Do you remember our last chat?]

“Yes lord Boccob. I have not forgotten our deal and our chat. I came to see if you had need of me yet or whether I should continue to keep my father and mother ignorant of it.” Dimetrius replied. 

[It is nearly time. You will hear of trouble today at which time you need to go to the castle where thousands of men and women will be gathering. There you will find the three I spoke of. Your first task will be clear when you join with them. As for your parents give your father this, he will understand and not impede you. And in front of Dimetrius a disc like object as big as his palm appeared. On one side was the emblem of Boccob on the other was Bahamut’s emblem. 

“Sir does this mean Lord Bahamut knows of this and is helping me?”

[He is my ally in this yes and he knows of your behavior on the other world you owe him as much as me since while you were corrupt you sought the aid of his sister and the queen of chaos Tiamat. Using her aid you destroyed a city twice the size of this and caused much chaos and evil to take root. Tell your father to give this token to your mother and she will be contacted with an edited story from us. Now go. You are about to be late to getting back to your father for selling your produce.] Boccob said as his presence faded and the disc fell into Dimetrius’s hand.

Walking quickly Dimetrius left the temple then ran full tilt back to the stall and got there just in time to start helping people choose the produce they wanted or needed.

Around the noon break when every stall was given an hour long break while the guards came by to inspect what was left and to place pick up orders for after their shift Dimetrius’s father says, “You were almost late. Did you do something besides pray like you said you were going to do?” 

“No sir actually Lord Boccob spoke to me. He told me that today I would “know” when to do it but he has set me several tasks that he requires of me. He told me to give you this and to have you and mama look at it at home and contact him and Lord Bahamut.” Dimetrius said handing over the large disc. 

Taking it from him his father looks at it and says, “I…see…Very well I won’t stop you but I ask you be extremely careful when you go. Your mother would kill me if you got hurt.”

“I’ll try papa…I just hope that the first task is easy to do. I can’t tell you everything but this is not my first time serving Lord Boccob.” Dimetrius says in a far off tone as he eats his sandwich. 

“That’s some mighty fine produce you have here sir, lad. Can I place an order to hold some for pickup after my shift?” a large mammoth of a man in full plate armor said as he looked down at the two men eating.

Getting a large cloth bag Dimetrius says, “of course what would you like us to hold for you?” 

“Can you hold five of everything please? Thanks the name is Brickfist. Commander Brickfist.” 

Getting five of the nicest pieces from each basket Dimetrius sets them in the bag and puts it aside with a piece of parchment that his father had put the name on and Brickfist thanks them again then walks off.  
As the first bell after noon rang people started worming their way into the stalls section again and Dimetrius notices that many of them are dressed for combat and have weapons hanging about them. One warrior in particular caught his eye as from head to toe it was covered in a dark blue, an almost black, cloth uniform with only a slit for its eyes to be seen. As the warrior turned sideways Dimetrius noticed she was clearly a woman with a rather ample chest on her hip was a sheathed sword. Seeing him watching her she walks over to the stand and looks over the produce. “Very nice goods you have here. I’ve not seen this quality in a good long time. How much for a tomato?” 

“One tomato is 2 silver pieces miss.” Dimetrius’s father said. 

Reaching inside her vest like top that was tucked firmly into her bottoms the girl pulls out a small coin purse and pulls out two silver. “Here you go handsome.” She says handing Dimetrius the coins before grabbing one of the big tomatoes.

Taking the coins Dimetrius puts them in the cash box and as the girl pulled down her mask and her hood off revealing a mane of extremely long green hair, purple eyes and a delicate nose and mouth. “Miss…can I ask you why you are here? You don’t look like most people from here and your accent is a dead giveaway that you’re not.” Dimetrius asks slowly as she takes a bite of the tomato. 

After chewing for a moment and swallowing she says with a smile, “Well I am Shinobi. A class of ninja from the Far East lands past the great desert here. I used a boat to sail around the southern coast and came up to the port here. I have been traveling due to my Trial’s to become a full-fledged Shinobi and to get my secret name. Much like your Trevlak people but we are more secretive and don’t shun those with magic. But the reason I am here today is I saw the flyers calling all able bodied people who have any combat prowess whether magical or physical to come to the castle to get a mission to deal with some big problem. It said groups of four would be preferred.”

“Papa …I think this it.” Dimetrius said picking up his diaper bag and walking around the cart. “Miss if it is permissible would you allow me to join you on this venture. I have a feeling I will be of use to you.” 

“Well what can you do kiddo?” she says giving him a smile.

“Well I am half blue dragon so I can once a day spit lightning that will pierce though anything in a sixty foot line hitting the stuff behind it for just as much power and I am a fledgling sorcerer. Mama taught me some very good spells for a low level sorcerer. And I am kind of strong and agile. Not as strong as say a brawler or barbarian but I can hold my own for a while.” Dimetrius says blushing at the smile. 

Grinning she says, “Alright then if your “papa” lets you come I don’t object.” 

Nodding Dimetrius’s father says, “Go on. Just remember what I said earlier.”

“Yes papa.” Dimetrius says following the Shinobi girl through the streets towards the castle.

“So what’s your name kiddo?” she asks taking another bite of the tomato.

“I’m Dimetrius. May I be permitted to inquire what your name is?” he asked politely.

“It’s Crystal. No family name.” Crystal said as they walked. 

After a few minutes Crystal and Dimetrius walk through the gates to the courtyard of the castle where an old soldier with a vertical scar above and below his eye. “Alright you maggots listen up. My name is General Blackfist. Commander of all the kings’ army. Those of you here must have come in summons to the proclamations sent out. Here is the deal you will form groups of four and register with the man by the gate. He will loan out one weapon to each group and only one. This weapon will be a test of your valor and honesty. Your mission, find the lair of the Goblin king and slay all the goblins you can there along with their current king. Bring back his head and you will be rewarded handsomely. If you come back and the weapon is still in great condition and one piece you might get a bonus. Alright maggots find your groups and register then move out.” He bellowed 

“Let’s see here. Since you’re a sorcerer in training we would need to keep you back and safe. I am a ninja so I will be in melee range and occasionally at a distance to fight. That leaves us in need of someone who can heal, serve as a distraction and possibly another ranged warrior. I would prefer a cleric which can do both the distraction and healing.” Crystal says thinking out loud.

As Crystal and Dimetrius looked around he noticed a tall slender woman with pointed ears wearing full plate armor with an emblem on the chest of Pelor, God of the sun and law. Tapping Crystals shoulder Dimetrius says, “what about her?”

Looking over Crystal smiles and says, “Good eye.” Then she walks over to the woman with Dimetrius walking close behind, “Hello there. My name is Crystal and this is Dimetrius. Are you in need of some team mates for this venture?” 

“I am. I am Jade Moonflower, High priestess of the Temple of Pelor and matron of the orphanage of Pelor. I am a Cleric and am powerful in healing and skilled in melee combat. What may I ask are your particular skills?” Jade said as she reached up to retie her long silver hair.

“I am a Shinobi from the land on the other side of the desert. Long story short I have to travel and do something great as a trial for my mastery.” Crystal said as she fingered her katana.

“Momma is training me to be a sorcerer.” Dimetrius said keeping his head down suddenly shy as he didn’t want either woman to know he had just wet himself. 

As he said this, a blond haired young man dressed in loose purple slacks with a wide, thick belt on it, holster holding a hand ax, a loose purple shirt that matched the pants and a calf length trench coat with a second thick leather belt across his chest like a bandolier which held his rapier high enough for easy drawing crashed into Dimetrius knocking them both to the ground. 

“Oops sorry about that hope I didn’t hurt you matey.” The man said standing up and pulling Dimetrius to his feet and dusting him off.

“It’s…alright.” Dimetrius said blushing as the guy dusted off his butt hoping he didn’t feel the diaper.

“Ah, Kalabad I take it you didn’t find anyone to team with?” Jade said seeing Dimetrius blush when Kalabad dusted off his butt. Trusting her ears which were more sensitive than a normal human she adds “Well if you two don’t mind why don’t we add Kalabad here? He is a swashbuckler and can be a decent distraction when we need. Before you guys decide can I talk with you privately for a moment Dimetrius?” 

“Err…okay I guess…”Dimetrius said confused and he walked off with her. 

When the two were near the wall with a decent amount of space around them Jade asks. “I know you probably are embarrassed as all nine hells but are you in need of a diaper change. Don’t worry I won’t judge someone for wearing them. In fact I change plenty of diapers at the orphanage of Pelor from the much older kids. If you can’t control your potty needs I don’t mind helping you out if you need.” 

Blushing hard Dimetrius says, “C…can I ask how you knew?” 

Pointing to her ears Jade says, “I sort of heard your accident. And seeing you blush when Kalabad dusted off your bottom.

“Oh…I take it your half elf. You’re too tall for full blood elf.” Dimetrius says shyly.

“Yes I am. Half forest elf to be precise. So do you want a change now or do you think it can wait till we stop for a rest after we register and head off in the direction my sources say the hideout is?” Jade replied. 

“I…I can wait…just…if they don’t ask can we please not talk about it. I don’t like needing them but it’s…I can’t say right now. I need permission to talk about it fully.” Dimetrius says walking back to Crystal and Kalabad.

When they get back Dimetrius says, “I don’t mind if you join us. Just remember if I say duck you guys need to duck. I don’t want to hurt anyone with my magic, at least anyone not deserving of it anyway.” 

“I don’t mind either. You seem like you have potential enough. Alright then let’s go register. I’m curious on what this “special weapon” is.” Crystal said walking towards the exit where a large table and a huge selection of weapons were.

“Yeah um you guys shouldn’t we decide who the leader is before we sign up? Like someone should have executive decisions on this quest.” Kalabad says jokingly not really serious but surprised when the three stop and look at each other.

“That is a good point Kalabad. Who would you say should have the power then?” Jade says looking him in the eye.

“I dunno I was just saying it as a joke really…not me though I would suck as a leader. I’m too free spirited to do it right.” Kalabad said honestly holding up his hands.

“I vote Jade.” Dimetrius says quietly.

“Why do you say that Dimetrius?” Crystal asked though she secretly agreed. 

“Well…I think she would be best because she has an idea of where we need to go, and…um…well…” He says bashfully.

Bending close and whispering in his ear Crystal says, “Did she offer to change your diaper?” 

“OH COME ON. YOU TOO…How did you know.” Dimetrius says getting upset. 

“I saw it peeking out when you bent over to get your bag before we came up here. I don’t mind otherwise I would have accosted you for it now wouldn’t I have?” Crystal says crossing her arms angrily looking at him for yelling in her ear.

Looking scared suddenly like he expected a smack on the rump he says, “I’m sorry for yelling in your ear…but yes because of that too. But I don’t mean to make it sound selfish or shallow.” 

“Well I agree with the first part at least. Yeah I vote you leader Jade.” Crystal said uncrossing her arms and patting Dimetrius on the arm gently in a silent, “I forgive you.” 

“Well I guess it’s you Jade since I didn’t vote. So let’s go register now I’m getting bored and want to get some adventurin’ done.” Kalabad says fingering his rapier. 

Walking over to the registration booth Jade gives her name and the names of the others. “Alright lass who of ye will be taking the weapon and which one of them would he er she like to have.” The old soldier with one eye, scarred up face, and both legs missing says as he writes down the names.

“Well I’m not sure can you tell us anything about the weapons before we decide that?” She asked sort of leery.

“Ye be a smart one lass. Only one so far to ask what these pretties do ye are. They have all been enchanted to hold the properties of a deck of many things and to recharge certain properties after so long.” The man says causing Dimetrius to gasp loudly.

“What’s wrong Dimetrius?” Crystal asked.

“I know what those decks do. I used to beg mama to tell me stories about magical artifacts when I was little and the deck of many things was my favorite tales.” He replied eyes wide hand slowly rising as if to caress the weapons.

“Hehehe. I take it you want to be the one to carry the weapon for your group then lad?” the old soldier said with a wicked laugh.

“Please Jade…I promise to be careful with it.” Dimetrius said in a childlike plea not realizing he was talking in such a way. 

“Do you two mind he has the weapon?” She asked looking at Crystal and Kalabad. 

Grinning Crystal says, “Oh okay you can have it little brother.” And she ruffles his hair playfully like a sister. 

“I don’t care but I call first pick of any treasure we find.” Kalabad said with his hands behind his head in a stretch. 

With a squeal of excitement Dimetrius walks around the table quickly and gently runs his fingers over weapon after weapon and finally stops in front of a crossbow taking it down. “I want this one. But I guess I need to buy some bolts for it.” He said grinning sheepishly.

“We need to get provisions and supplies anyway dear so we will just add bolts for that to the list of stuff before we head out.” Jade replied before placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah let’s get supplied up and get going. I’m itching for a good scrap.” Kalabad said shifting on his feet lightly.

After an hour of shopping in which Jade got Dimetrius a long staff to use in case a monster or “bad guy” got too close to use the crossbow or magic. She says, “Alright I think we should get you taken care of before we leave it can’t be comfortable wearing that thing as wet as it is.” 

Blushing hard Dimetrius bit his lip trying not to cry and just nods. Looking around Jade saw a public restroom that had a sign showing it had a changing table inside and took Dimetrius over to it and walked inside with him. After a couple minutes the two walk out Dimetrius blushing even more turning his face purple due to his blue scales; Crystal and Kalabad just chuckle and pat him on the shoulder as the four walk towards the stables.

As they got close a lanky boy in nothing but bib overalls with a noticeable diaper bulge sees them as he pitches hay into a stall and yells, “Mister Borris we got more customers.”

Coming out of the main building a mammoth of a man standing over seven feet tall with rippling muscles on his body says, “Good afternoon you four. What can I be doin fer ya?”

“We need some horses for a few days. Two weeks on the outside.” Jade said not even flinching at the man’s size.

“Two weeks eh. Where ya be going with me horses fer that long?” Borris said in his deep bass voice.

“We’re going to where my sources say the location of the Goblin Lair is to fulfill the mission to eradicate their king and as many of them as possible for King Gorgash.” Jade replied. 

“Oh yer some of the warriors the king sent proclamations out fer. Well if that be the case you get two horses free of charge with enough feed to last the time you need them fer. Since its going to be a while I suggest you rent me wagon to hitch them to. That will be 5 gold fer the two weeks. If you come back sooner I will refund the difference in price.” Borris said matter of factly.

“Alright deal.” Jade said counting out 5 gold coins into Borris’s hand.

When the coins were palmed Borris yelled, “Billy. Hitch up Shadow and Dawn to the wagon and stick two weeks of feed into the back of it.” 

“Right away sir.” Billy said dropping the pitchfork and running around the back of the stables to get the two horses hitched up and the feed placed.

“That lad sure dose earn his keep.” Borris mused before turning back to them. “Now, just a word of warning fer ya, do not mistreat my horses. I will know if you do or not. If they are I will not be happy and you will be in it deep. If they die in the field due to enemy or monster activity I won’t be happy but I understand that it was beyond your control. Things happen in the world, but don’t push them too hard and don’t hurt them.” Borris said causing Dimetrius to hide behind Jade, and Kalabad and Crystal to keep a wary eye on him.

“Don’t worry Borris; I am Jade Moonflower of the temple of Pelor and Matron of the orphanage. I know how to treat animals with care. Shadow and Dawn are in good hands.” She said holding out her gauntleted hand. 

Taking it Borris shook it taking her word that the horses would be well cared for and then he walks back inside the main building to continue his nap. After a few minutes Billy drove the wagon around with a midnight black stallion and a dune colored mare attached to the leads and he parks it next to the four. “Here you go sirs and madam’s Shadow here is a bit edgy today but he will hold true and obey the reins.” 

“Thanks Billy.” Jade said flipping him a silver piece and loading their supplies in the back making sure her Warhammer was firmly strapped to her hip and her shield was close by and then said, “karakoff,” Which caused her plate armor to fade from view though its outline was still visible. Jumping like she was wearing nothing at all Jade lands in the driving part of the wagon and waits for the other three to get in either the back or up front with her. 

Eyes wide Dimetrius got in the front and started looking Jade over carefully trying to figure out what she did while Crystal helped Kalabad into the back before getting in herself.

“Jade how did you do that? Your armor…it’s…gone.” Dimetrius says moving a finger towards her slowly in a poking motion.

“Don’t poke me silly. And what I did was activate my Armors special ability. Pelor himself made this armor for me so that I would never have to unarm and rearm. When needed all I have to do is say the command word and it fades into an ethereal state making it so while I am still “wearing” it, it does not interfere with anything I need to do. Such as sleeping or going to the bathroom.” Jade said before flicking the reins causing the horses to take off at a canter.

“You must be a favored soul then to have gotten a gift from your god.” Crystal said impressed.

“I am. But I am also not very far in rank with him yet. I just reached my favored soul status last harvest season when I took over the post of Matron of the orphanage. And before you ask, no I am not abandoning my duties there. I have so many assistants that I barely have anything to do at all other than fill out paperwork most of the time. I help with the kids all I can though when there. When I heard of the trouble I decided to help the first group I could because I know what war does. Half the children in the orphanage are there because of war. They came to us from our neighboring country across the inland sea.”

“I see. Well, still I’m glad you decided to help us. Even if you are not very far as a favored soul you will be a great help on this journey.” Crystal said lying back in the wagon bed keeping her head near the front so she could hear.

“So why are you so excited about that crossbow? What the heck is a deck of many things? And why does its power in a weapon fascinate you so much?” Kalabad said looking bored as they left the city and got on the great road north heading to the mountains that separated their country from the frozen wastes. 

“Well…the Deck of Many Things is a powerful magical artifact. Normally you would draw a card from the deck and flip it over. Depending on the card you could have something great happen or something terrible. Most decks in the world are the normal kind where one a card is drawn it is gone forever but mama told me of a very rare deck called the “Superior Deck of Many Things” where most of the cards regenerated instantly into the deck while the most powerful ones took up to a day to regenerate.” Dimetrius says as he examined the crossbow trying to figure out how the spell worked.

“Wait what do you mean by “something terrible.” Is this thing dangerous?” Jade said giving him a stern look. 

“I don’t know. Mama didn’t tell me what the worst things were. Either she didn’t know or she just wanted to keep me asking questions and learning magical lore. But some of the lower grade bad things are it causes you to become imprisoned as if by the imprisonment spell for a specific time or until it is broken by someone. Or a close friend stabs you in the back…but she told me that the GOOD things that can happen far outweigh the bad stuff for the most part. Like you can become super rich, your power level as a spell user could spike or in lieu of that your combat prowess could spike. You might even cause a Djinn to appear and grant you wishes.” Dimetrius said knocking a bolt into place in the bow before setting it down between his legs.

Pursing her lips Jade says, “Dimetrius I want you to promise to use that ONLY when I give you permission. I don’t like the sound of terrible things coming from it. Promise me or I will take it away.” 

Looking like a child who had his toy’s stolen Dimetrius says, “but…but I can still use it in our first fight? Pretty please?”

“If you only shoot one bolt and you have to put it up and use your magic only after that or your staff.” She said firmly.

“Okay I promise.” He replied looking a little happier but still hurt that he couldn’t use it as he saw fit.

After a couple hours Jade pulled off to the side of the road along the river as dusk was starting to come and the four started to set up a campsite. Once the fire pit was made and filled and a good fire was going Dimetrius used his Alarm spell to ward their campsite so they knew if someone or something entered it that wasn’t them or the horses.

“Since I’m new to this country and all mind if I ask a silly question?” Crystal said as she sat down and started to cook something in the fire in the pot of water she had filled.  
“Sure why not. I am happy to illuminate foreigners to our ways.” Jade said as she pitched the tents and laid out the bedrolls inside them.

“Well while I was walking around the capital I couldn’t help but notice a lot of people who went without bottoms but had diapers on. Is there some sort of epidemic or something that I’m not aware of or are you all just getting your kicks wearing diapers all the time?” Crystal asked though she secretly was hoping it was something that might let her “explore” her feeling she had had since she was adopted by the ninja clan she was trained by.

“Oh I can answer this.” Dimetrius started. “You are close with both guesses but very far off base too. You see ten years ago when Prince Gragnot was still little he was injured while playing in the castle trying to “be a hero” like King Gorgash and it caused him to lose control of his um…yeah…anyway for the first few months he was extremely down about it saying “diapers are for babies I am a big boy why do I have to wear these when nobody else wears them.” King Gorgash wanting to cheer him up sent out a decree stating that it was now illegal for anyone to force their children to potty train and that people who wish to wear them for fun may do so and that anyone who is caught ridiculing someone for wearing, as it was now unknown who needed them and who wore just to enjoy the comfort of them, would be sentenced to be placed in the stocks in the town square and given 100 spankings in front of everyone on their bared bottoms and then forced to wear a diaper for five days and use them while still in the stocks. Since then we have had no harassment of people who wear them and it is now commonplace to see people walking around with just a diaper and shirt on. Though there is a few questions on our census’s that helps regulate how many diapers are made every year of the disposable kind. Basically it asks if you or anyone in the household wears them, their diaper size and whether or not they need them due to not being potty trained or due to injury. Those that are from injury get a tax break as they need the diapers most and usually have to buy a higher quality diaper to meet their needs.”

“So just for curiosity sake I could what…put on a diaper for no other reason than to see what it was like and just walk around with it on display?” Kalabad asked in a skeptical voice.

“Yeah if you wanted to you could. Nobody would give you crap for it here.” Jade said coming out of a tent and sitting down next to Dimetrius.” 

“Crystal why did you call me little brother earlier when I asked to be the one to pick the weapon of many things?” Dimetrius asked after taking a drink from his gourd bottle that had been hanging from his diaper bag.

“Well two reasons. First you were acting like a little kid at midwinter when gifts were exchanged and it was funny to see. Second, you remind me of my baby brother back home. He is not really my brother as I was adopted into the family as a baby, though I still call the two who raised me Mama 1 and Mama 2.” Crystal said kindly.

“Oh I see. Well thanks I guess. I never had a big sister but mama is almost ready to lay the egg with my baby brother or sister in it. I just hope I can be a good role model for him or her when it hatches.” Dimetrius said smiling. 

“So long as you don’t fall into evil habits and start serving the darker gods or even the devils and demons of the nine hells I think he or she will be proud to look up to you.” Jade said smiling and giving Dimetrius a pat on the back. 

“Dinner’s ready.” Crystal said filling four bowls with the soup she had made. 

Taking his bowl Kalabad says, “Thanks. Smells strange but I’m up to eating anything new at least once.

“Thank you Crystal.” Jade and Dimetrius said taking their bowls and slowly eating their food. 

Humming in pleasure Dimetrius says, “This is wonderful. What is this soup?” 

“It’s a dish from my home called Ramen. Its dried noodles with herbs and powdered chicken, pork or beef sprinkled on the ball and its wrapped in a cheesecloth wrap to keep it together until dumped into a pot of boiling water. Very filling and quick to make and is perfect for people on the road. This ball was a chicken one.” Crystal said sipping her broth and using a pair of sticks to grab the noodles up.

“What are those big sis?” Dimetrius asked seeing the sticks.

“These…they’re called chopsticks. This is how my people eat.” She said showing them to him, Jade and Kalabad. “You hold them like this and use these two fingers to move the top stick up and down like a fulcrum to grab the food object. It takes practice but I grew up using them so I don’t even have to think about it anymore.” 

“Oh wow…um…if you have any spares can I try?” he asked blushing.

“I don’t have any on hand besides this pair but if you behave tomorrow I may carve you a pair while we ride.” Crystal said teasingly grabbing his nose gently.

“Okay I pro…promise.” Dimetrius said yawning as he finished his bowl. “I sweepy now I fink I go nite nite.” He said not realizing he was talking like a toddler. And he crawled over to the tent on the left taking the crossbow with him and crawling into the bedroll.

After he was in the tent Jade says, “Is it just me or does he talk like a toddler at random times?”

“I noticed it too but didn’t want to bring it up. Whatever his choice of speech is, is his choice I got no room to throw stones.” Kalabad said in a bored voice before downing his bowl. “I will take first watch if you guys want. I need to burn off some energy.” 

“Alright then go ahead. Wake me in say three hours and I will take my turn.” Crystal said finishing her bowl before turning to Jade. “I noticed it too but wasn’t sure what to make of it. You want me to talk to him privately in the tent so he thinks it’s just me who noticed?” 

“That would be a good idea. Here take this bag with you. I always bring it with me when I travel but since we all know he needs them might as well keep the diaper bag near him in case he needs a change. You don’t mind doing it do you?” 

“I changed my little bro plenty of times but never a big diaper like that. Shouldn’t be any different though right just a bigger diaper and more area to wipe down.” Crystal said taking the bag and going to the tent Dimetrius went to pulling up her mask and tucking her hair into the hood looking like she had when Dimetrius first saw her.

Jade after finishing her bowl banks the fire and takes the pot and bowls to the river for a quick wash then crawls into the other tent curling up in the bedroll and saying her prayers to Pelor for a safe night.  
As Kalabad wandered the perimeter of the Alarm spell that Dimetrius had set up he unsheathes his rapier and starts shadow fencing to practice his art. “Man this is boring. I half wish something would come along so I can get a good workout.” He says after a bit in boredom.

Meanwhile in Dimetrius and Crystals tent. “Dimetrius don’t freak out on me but I have to ask. Do you realize you have a few times today spoken like a toddler?” 

Rolling over to look at her he replies, “I…I didn’t know I still did that. Mama said I rarely did it anymore and it was a sign I was getting better.” 

Petting his hair Crystal says, “What do you mean dear? It’s okay I won’t belittle you I’m just concerned.” 

“I contracted dragon pox as a toddler and it affected my brain, the part that is for speech and the part that controls behavior. Due to that I sometimes revert to toddler or even baby like behavior. I don’t mean to but when I do I don’t even notice it until someone brings it up. Please don’t make me go home I promise I am getting better and can do this.” He replied sniffing thinking he was about to be sent home without a chance to have an adventure and do his mission from Boccob. 

Pulling him into a snuggled hug Crystal says, “I won’t send you home. But I will help you if you need it. I can even make it fun for you if you want but it would mean having to teach you to KNOW when you are regressing.”

“R…really? Why would you do that for me.” He asked sniffing and wiping his watery eyes.

“Because I know what it’s like to be looked at for being different. Because sometimes what we really need is someone to help us see the good when all we have is the bad. And because you are my “little brother.” She said patting his bottom gently as she pulled him into her lap letting him snuggle her.

“O…okay what do I gotta do?” he said snuggling close on the verge of falling asleep.

“For now let’s just get you to bed crinkle butt. I will think of some rules and stuff for you to do tomorrow as we ride to wherever Jade is taking us.” Crystal said kissing his head and pulling back the cover on his bedroll before tucking him into it.

“Oh alright. Nini big sis.” He said sleepily rolling to his side and slowly bringing his thumb to his mouth without realizing it.


	2. Goblin City here we come

Chapter 2. Goblin City here we come

[Dimetrius…Dimetrius can you hear me.] The voice of Boccob said in the dreamscape of Dimetrius as the boy slept soundly

Looking around the vast open plains of the dream he was having Dimetrius sits down and says, “Yes Lord Boccob I can. Is there something more I can do for you at this time sir?” 

Appearing before Dimetrius a wizened old man with a large staff topped with a pentagonal device with an eye in the middle, dressed in flowing robes and wearing a necklace of the same device as his staffs top Boccob says, [yes and no my boy. First I wanted to congratulate you on succeeding in my first task. The warriors of shadow, light and the adventurous spirit are your allies. But now you must test their willingness to stay with you.]

“How do I do that my Lord? Do…you don’t want me to tell them about…about my first life do you?” Dimetrius asked a little scared thinking his new sister figure would shun him or worse.

That is precisely what I want you to do. When you wake up for breakfast you will tell them everything, including my giving you a second chance. Their own deities will be visiting them tonight at my bequest and giving them a message that you have something important to say and it will be hard for you to admit it. But they are not going to be forced to stay with you. You have to prove your worth to them.

“But…but can’t I just…do I have to tell them the REAL reason for my…I know the dragon pox is what did it to this body but you said that you were using it as a punishment so don’t that mean YOU caused me to have that sickness…sir please don’t make me tell them my diapers are a punishment.” Dimetrius begged on the verge of tears.

Sitting down in silence Boccob watched the Dimetrius break down like a toddler and stroked his beardless chin in thought. Very well…you may omit that part. However I think you should have to pay for lying about such a detail don’t you?

“Sir I…if you let me get out of telling them that I will take any punishment you want. Just don’t make me tell them it’s too embarrassing.” Dimetrius whimpered hugging his knees to his chest.

Taking Dimetrius up with a levitation spell Boccob floated him over and deposited the boy across his lap and flicked his hand causing Dimetrius’s pants and diaper to come down. Raising his hand he delivered fifteen hard swats to Dimetrius’s exposed rear then slid the diaper and pants back up saying, [That will do for insisting on a lie. Your body will feel that spanking’s aftermath when you wake so you will have to tell them you were bad in my presence and punished for it.]

Bawling like a baby Dimetrius held his bottom and sobbed, “Y…yes l...Lord b…b…Boccob.” 

After waiting for Dimetrius to calm down Boccob says, One last thing. I will implant the location to the entrance of Goblin City in your mind so you may get there quickly tomorrow. And with a snap of his fingers Boccob was gone, Dimetrius had the location and route fixed in his mind and he felt himself being shaken awake by Crystal.

“Dimetrius…wake up you silly boy it’s almost breakfast time. You need a change and I can’t do that with you asleep because you are so big.” Crystal said shaking his arm.

“C…Crystal? Oh…wow that was a bad dream…No…it wasn’t a dream…Okay sorry big sis I’m awake.” Dimetrius said groggily and helped her change him into a clean disposable diaper from his bag having picked a thicker one to make it easier to sit on his curiously red backside. After sliding his pants up the two exit the tent and Crystal takes the soiled diaper and the one from the night to the latrine to bury them and Dimetrius walks to the river to wash his hands and face gingerly moving as he did which caused Jade to crook her eyebrow in curiosity.

Once everyone was around the fire and Jade had passed out the bowls of porridge she says, “I don’t know about you but did anyone else get their dreams interrupted by a god last night?” 

Hearing that Dimetrius flinched and Kalabad and Crystal said, “Yeah kind of. What was yours about?” 

“Well Pelor came to me and said that our little man here has something important to say. And we may or may not be happy with it.” Jade said firmly watching Dimetrius for his reaction.

“Okay that’s weird. Kami of Shadows Keep said almost the same thing to me, though she was amused by it.” Crystal said turning to look at Dimetrius as well. 

“Ok that is fucked up. Milili came to me as well and said just the same. Alright you spill why are our deities disturbing what should have been a restful fun night for us.” Kalabad said fingering his rapier in distrust.  
Putting down the bowl Dimetrius says, “I…this is not going to be easy for me guys…so…please hold any questions to the end…”

When they didn’t say anything he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay…this…this is not my first life…or my first home. I used to live on a planet similar to this but in another dimension. On that other world…I was known as Dimetrius as well. I was a loyal vassal of Boccob and was on my way to becoming his chosen…a favored soul. I was so excited that I wasn’t thinking about the consequences of my actions and one day I let my curiosity get the better of me…you see he gave me two cards from a deck of many things to hold on to. But he placed them face to face so I couldn’t even see what one of them did…I…I drew one of the cards to see what would happen and he appeared. Stripped me of their power, his blessings, and cast me out. I was so ashamed and depressed that I easily fell into the claws of a greater devil.” He said slowly.

After taking a drink from his cup he says, “I was so depressed, so angry with my lord that I willingly took the power this devil gave me…I…I don’t want to say his name in case of it possibly conjuring him but…let’s just say he was tall, red skinned, had red batlike wings, and horns curved up from his forehead…anyway he corrupted me. Made it so that my touch was dangerous to anything but a demon or a devil, and he convinced me to steal from one of my comrades two artifacts of great power and told me to use them…I…had to cut off my left hand and remove the eye on the same side. The more I did with his influence the darker my mind became. I soon consciously chose to betray my friends and try to steal the artifact we were to destroy and turn it over to him.” 

At this point Dimetrius started rocking back and forth from the waist up eyes overflowing with tears. “We were on our way to a thing called the infinite staircase that leads down to the nine hells where we had to go to destroy the thing. We got transported to another world somehow…futuristic from us…I learned the language of that world quickly and I think I murdered some people. I wasn’t sure because there was this giant green metallic dragonlike monster. It had holes in the sides and I saw people inside. The dragon breathed an explosive fire at us after our leader hit it on the nose with his enchanted hammer, blew the ground up bad enough that fire was coming out of it alongside the buildings…so I stuck my finger into a hole and shot a fully powered fireball inside. Oh god the screams. I can still hear them. I didn’t want any of this. But I was being suppressed more and more by the corruption and the demonic skin I had started to grow after being tricked into a profane ritual. When we got back to our world somehow I was found out by a new guy to join up with us in an arena battle. I fled with my master but they eventually found me in my new lair as I was planning to fulfill my mission…they did the right thing and slew me…I swear I never wanted any of this evil stuff to take place in my name. I was just a confused, scared boy who latched onto the only hand that showed me kindness after I was kicked out of Lord Boccobs temple…” Dimetrius finished as he started sobbing and wailing hard. 

“If all of this is true why are you here? Why are you claiming to work for Boccob again?” Jade said in a neutral, empty voice.

“He…he came to me 28 years ago when I was floating in limbo awaiting my Judgment. He…he said there is something bad coming to this world and if I was truly sorry for betraying him, Lord Bahamut, and the people of the other planet he would give me a second chance and forestall my final judgment by reincarnating me here to help stop whatever is coming. He said it was a cataclysm of great magnitude that would finish off this planet if it wasn’t stopped. I took that offer. He let me chose my heritage for my new body. Not even mom and dad know I am a reincarnation though they both believe in that. I know you will have trouble trusting me after this…I…I just beg you to look in your hearts and give me a second chance.” He answered before burying his face in his knees and starting to bawl again thinking they were going to abandon him or worse.

“I can see your pain Dimetrius and that you are telling the truth. However I think we must take precautions based on your actions and how you have been behaving since we met, to ensure that you really are going to keep from doing something like that again.” Jade said slowly getting up and walking over to him. 

“I…I…I’ll d…do wh…whatever…y…you s…say. J…just don’t…l…lea…leave me b…behind.” He sobbed as she touched his shoulder gently. 

“Since you behaved like a child and have a tendency to speak as one. I think it only right we treat your actions from here on as those of a child and punish or reward based on said actions. In fact, if I recall as a half dragon you will live as long as your full dragon kin and age just as slowly as them which technically makes you a child or baby in their societies is that not so.” She says kneeling down and putting a hand on his chin to make him look at her.

“M…momma did say so…something like that on..once. B…but papa said he wa…wanted me brought up by hu…human standards since I d…didn’t have…w…wings or a t…tail.” Dimetrius said with sporadic hiccups.

“That is all fine and dandy but you’re with us now not at home. So while you are with us you will be treated as a toddler dragon. You be bad or do something dangerous without asking you will be punished. Behave and you get rewards. Deal?” Jade said holding his gaze. 

“Do I have to call you mama?” He replied causing everyone to chuckle.

“Only if you want to but if you do I would prefer you put my name after it. Or even just call me matron as that is what I am at the orphanage.” 

“O…okay I agree. Mama Jade.” He said getting a pat on the head as she went over to her spot and finished her cold porridge. 

Once everyone had finished Dimetrius took the pot and bowls to the river for a quick wash as the rest of the party packed up the camp and loaded things into the wagon. Getting into the back Dimetrius holds the crossbow and bolts in his lap and rides in silence for a bit when Crystal says, “So do you always have a bad rash from wearing a wet diaper overnight?” 

“N…no big sis…I…I argued with Boccob when he visited me. I didn’t want to tell you guys for fear of you turning from me or worse. He…he gave me a s…sp…” he replied unable to say the last word

“He spanked you for sass mouth?” She asked.

“Yes sis. He said I had to tell you but I almost forgot until you asked about it. I would have told you eventually but I was more concerned about getting my story out. I really am sorry for how I was on the other world and just want to make it up to Boccob and to you guys even though I never wronged you.” He replied as Jade got them underway. 

“I don’t know about them but I already forgive you. I am not one to cast stones and always willing to give a second chance. My clan gave me a second chance at life when our matriarch found me as a baby in a burned out village as she was traveling. So I guess you have your second chance at a life with this one.” Crystal said as she pulled out a kunai knife and started to whittle a pair of sticks down. 

“OH SHIT…Mama Jade I have to tell you something else. Lord Boccob gave me directions to Goblin City.” Dimetrius said suddenly shocked that he forgot.

“That is strike one mister for the swear, and if you know the way perhaps you should come up here and drive instead of me.” She said sternly causing him to blush.

“Sorry Mama Jade. Dimetrius said getting up carefully and climbing over the back of the rise dividing the driver seats from the back of the wagon. Setting the crossbow on the floorboard he takes the reigns and turns east a little heading towards the forest side.

After an hour of driving Dimetrius says in a confused almost childlike voice, “I…okay I see a map in my mind and it shows where the lair is but he has three spots marked with X’s as well…do…do we go to them as well? I…I don’t know what to do.”

“If they are marked on the “map” then it is best we see what he wants us to see at those locations. Go to them Dimetrius.” Crystal said putting down the sticks and sheathing her kunai before tucking her hair into her hood and covering her face completely except for her eye gap.

“Finally, hope there is something for me to fight here. Or at least something that leads to a fight. This is really boring so far.” Kalabad said fingering his rapier again.

“Don’t worry Kalabad. By the end of the night you will have your fights.” Dimetirus said as Jade snorted a laugh.

“Seriously Kalabad you’re almost as impatient as the three year olds I care for. Just think of it like this. The best adventures are the ones you share with friends and can take a lifetime to complete.” Jade said calmly causing him to roll his eyes. 

After a half hour of riding into the woods Crystal says, “Hold up…I smell smoke…and burned flesh.” 

Pulling the horses to a stop he says, “The village is supposed to be around that bend and another fifty yards down.”

“Crystal, can you recon without being seen?” Jade asked getting out of the wagon before causing her armor to appear with a whispered word of command.

“I’ll try. I have a few tricks up my sleeve I’ll be back in a moment.” Crystal said jumping catlike from the wagon up into the trees rebounding off them to gain height until she was in the upper branches.

Dimetrius taking the crossbow in hand looks around warily very nervous not knowing what to expect while Kalabad pretended to be asleep out of boredom. 

After ten minutes Crystal came back and dropped down behind Jade without a sound and said, “Village is deserted. It was burned bad and there are bodies everywhere. Human, dwarf, and elf along with goblins and bugbears, but something was…off about the goblins and bugbears. I have fought them before as I traveled to this land…but…well come see.” She said rubbing her head confused. 

Jade getting back into the wagon and taking the reins says, “I said you can use that bow one time to see what happens and I stand by that but you better be sure of your target and don’t shoot anyone that is not a goblin or bugbear.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Dimetrius replies looking around warily keeping an eye out for movement.

Once they got to the village Dimetrius hissed in shock and nearly jumped out of the wagon to run ahead and check things out. The only thing that kept him in place was the fact he remembered his promise and the condition of his staying with the group. If he acted badly he would be punished. “Jade I…I need to see those bodies can I run ahead and check them? I get a strange feeling from them.”

“Go ahead but be careful. If you see anything run back first, do not engage.” Jade said pulling the wagon to a halt a few yards short of the gates which hung off their hinges crookedly.

Hopping out of the wagon Dimetrius ran ahead and seeing the destruction had tears flowing down his eyes. Getting close to one of the goblin corpses he nudged it with his foot causing a sudden jolt to flow up his body and a quick pain. Screaming in pain he ran back crying saying, “I knew it…I fucking knew it…Mama Jade please consecrate a small area now and use your healing powers on me inside it…hurry.”

Worried Jade did just as he asked and when she healed him she saw a small shadow fly up off his foot before dissipating in the wind. “Dimetrius what was that.” She asked shocked.

“All of them…goblins, bugbears and even the villagers…they’re corrupted…do you have anything to send word to the king... this entire village needs to be consecrated and have a healing placed on it or nobody will ever be able to live here.” He said rocking back and forth crying.

“How do you…oh shit this is the same thing that happened to you isn’t it?” Kalabad said seeing how freaked out Dimetrius was.

“That’s one strike for you Kalabad and Dimetrius you have two.” Crystal said.

“Hey I’m 18 I can say whatever I damn well feel.” Kalabad said indignantly. 

“Compared to Dimetrius and myself you are still a child so if he has to be treated as one you follow the same rules. Especially with the way you keep whining and acting all hyper like a little kid on a sugar rush. And that puts you at two.” Crystal said eyeing him hard.

“Getting back to Kalabad’s question this is similar to the corruption you had on the other world isn’t it. That’s why you are so scared dear?” Jade said loudly cutting off Kalabad’s reply.

Nodding Dimetrius says, “It’s similar…but different. Like it was placed by a different hand or something I can’t describe it.” Looking up at the sky Dimetrius yells. “IS THIS WHY YOU BROUGHT ME HERE…IS MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS CRAP THE REASON YOU WANTED ME.”

Silence reined for several minutes as Dimetrius rocked back and forth trying to calm down. Finally he says, “There’s nothing here but death and evil. Whichever of you can send it, best send word to the castle while we move on to the next village. I don’t want to see more like this but we may get lucky and find a survivor to help.”

Getting back into the wagon Dimetrius takes up the reins and puts the crossbow between his legs point down and waits for the others to load up before moving the horses onto the path that lead north from the village heading for the next one. Once they were set on the path Jade summoned a celestial falcon and gave it the message verbally then sent it off to the castle. As Dimetrius drove he kept silent refusing to speak and concentrating on nothing but the leather strips in his hands connected to the horses and therefore didn’t hear when his bladder released as well as his bowels. 

Taking the reins from him Jade says, “Dimetrius, Dimetrius I know you’re upset but we need to stop and rest the horses for a bit. And you need a change.” 

Jumping in shock like he had been hit Dimetrius comes out of his daze and says, “Wh..what…oh dang it why did it have to happen now?”

Pulling the horses off to the side of the road Jade says, “I know you have no control but even with that shock can cause you to miss things as they happen. Come on dear let’s go get you changed while Crystal and Kalabad take care of the horses.

Nodding Dimetrius climbs down from the wagon as Jade takes up the diaper bag she always had on hand and walked around the trees to give him a little privacy as she changed him. After laying down a large blanket she helped him lay down and put out the needed supplies then stripped him of his pants and proceeded to change him.

When she was done and he was freshly wrapped in a thick diaper he sits up and hugs her tight still a bit shaken. Shushing him she hugs him back and strokes his back gently saying, “I know…I know…we will find whatever is corrupting these Goblins and destroy it. You are doing a brave man’s work dear. Not many people could have identified that corruption for what it was and would have fallen victim to it. If there is anything you want to help you calm down besides spirits I will try and get it for you.

Shaking violently with small tremors along his skin Dimetrius just sobbed into her shoulder while she spoke but when she offered to get him anything to calm him he bit his lip. His mother and father had taken all of them away after he turned eight stating that he was no longer a baby and therefore didn’t need baby items. But he always felt better when he had a pacifier to suck on when he was scared or upset. It was the only thing that ever stopped his tremors short of him passing out from shock. “D…do you…h…have any…p…pacifiers in there.” He asked pointing to the diaper bag.

“I do…would you like one? I have some flavored ones if you like.” She replied quietly noticing his tremors already starting to subside at the thought of a pacifier.

“Ch…cherry…or grape…if you have them.” He sniffed

Nodding she pulls the bag close and opens an outside pocket to rummage in it and pulls out a still wrapped pacifier that was surprisingly big enough for a full grown persons mouth and flavored grape. The package also stated that it was puncture proof making it perfect for races that had sharp teeth.

Opening the package Jade pulled the pacifier out and threaded the drop cord through it and made a necklace before sliding it over his head. Once it was dangling from his neck she says, “Open up.”

Complying he opened his mouth slightly and she popped the pacifier in which caused him to immediately start suckling on it and calming down instantly. “Better?” she asked kindly stroking his hair gently.

Nodding he says around it, “Fank yoo Mama Jade.”

“You’re welcome dear. Now let’s clean this up and bury your used one then get back to the others.” She said standing up to move a few feet away from the blanket to dig a hole with a spade she kept in the diaper bag. 

Nodding Dimetrius put the unused supplies back in the bag making sure the bottle of rash cream was sealed tight and the package of wipes was also sealed properly then he handed her the used diaper as she held her hand out for it and then he folded the blanket after shaking the undergrowth off of its bottom. All in all the cleanup took thirty minutes and when they got back to the wagon Crystal and Kalabad were napping in the back of it and the horses had feedbags on their faces. 

“Alright dear why don’t you crawl in back and take a nap too. I can drive us to the next village from here.” Jade said getting in the driver seat. 

Nodding Dimetrius crawled into the back of the wagon and curled up against Crystal snuggling her like an oversized teddy bear and sucked on his pacifier falling asleep within seconds. 

After reaching the second town Jade was convinced there was nobody alive there without having to wake the other three just by the fact the walls of the town were burnt down to stumps and all the houses had collapsed and burned completely. Shaking her head she sent a second falcon to the castle to deliver the message and continued driving north. By the time she reached the third village however the other three woke up and saw it was late afternoon. Crystal seeing Dimetrius still sucking on the pacifier kissed him on the head and hugged him causing him to smile weakly at her in appreciation.

“Where are we?” Crystal asked looking up to Jade from the wagon bed.

“This is the third town. The second one was worse and I sent another falcon to the castle. I couldn’t sense any living things there so I just kept going. But…I get a feeling we are being watched here. Everyone gear up but don’t jump the trigger and attack early. Dimetrius come up here and sit with me. I noticed your sense of smell is keener than ours so you might smell the person or persons before we see them.” Jade said patting the seat next to her.

Nodding Dimetrius crawls over the back of the seat and sits with Jade picking up his crossbow again. As he looked around he lifted his nose to the air scenting occasionally and as they passed through the gates he pats Jades leg signaling to stop. Going a few more paces ahead to get the entire wagon inside she pulls the horses to a stop and looks at him silently. 

Lifting his nose again he scents one more time and nods holding up a single finger then he makes curves against his chest indicating he smelled a female and then he put his hand low in the wagon seat close to the floorboards indicating she was young finally he pointed to the symbol on Jades armor indicating that it was coming from the Temple in the village which was a few yards ahead and to the right a little. Crystal, watching this, points to herself after catching Jades eye but Jade shakes her head and points to herself. 

Dismounting from the wagon Jade walked to the temple looking dour and shook her head slowly saddened to see that the Temple of Pelor in this village was badly damaged. As she drew close she saw a little girl hiding behind a pew through the missing doors and kneeling down with an extended hand says in a calm, gentle voice, “Do not be alarmed child I won’t hurt you. Please come out. I am a high priestess of Pelor I give my word I will not harm you.”

Peeking around the Pew the girl saw the blazing sun emblem on Jades chest and slowly at first came around the pew but seeing she was not changing finally runs to her and clings tightly to her crying.  
Shushing the girl Jade pets her back gently and rocks her to and fro to calm her down. “Dear are there any others here? I know you’re scared but I have to know.” She said eventually.

“No I onwy one weft. Baddies come take away mama and papa and kiwed overs. I hided in da temple. They no could come in but dey tried to bweak it bad.” The little girl said shaking.

Picking her up Jade slowly takes her back to the wagon and asks. “How old are you sweetie and what’s your name?”

“I…I’m ‘Tunia…I fwee. Who you?” she said slowly.

“What a lovely name Petunia. One of my favorite flowers too. I am Jade Moonflower. And like I said I am a high priestess of Pelor. I live in the capital and run the orphanage there too. I am on my way north with these people here to take care of the baddies that did this.” Jade said laying her down in the back of the wagon and pulling the diaper bag over to her as she had felt the girl had one on but was in desperate need of a change as she had walked.

Working quickly after pointing away from her telling Dimetrius and Kalabad to turn away which they complied silently she had Petunia in a thick clean diaper for a girl her size and says, “I am going to summon a celestial to take you to the temple and orphanage at the castle. Can you be a big brave girl and stay with it.” 

“I…I twy.” Petunia replied sniffing before popping her dirty thumb in her mouth. 

Pulling out a cherry flavored pacifier for a small child’s mouth Jade fixed the drop cord and strung it around Petunia’s neck then replaced her thumb with it. “Okay when you get there tell them Jade sent you with Fluffy, that’s the animals’ name, and that she said you were to be given extra special treatment.” Jade said before summoning a massive celestial bear. Placing the girl on its back she says, “He won’t get mad if you tug a little so hold on tight as you can dear. Fluffy will keep you safe and get you to the orphanage where you will be cared for and helped quickly. I promise to try and save your mommy and daddy if I can.”  
Nodding the girl wound her tiny fingers into the massive bears fur and lay down on its back feeling safe with the massive beast.

“Fluffy take her to the orphanage as fast as you can. Once she is safe tell Sapphiresong that the third village is gone and to relay it to the king. No side tracking for anything other than to drink.” Jade said looking the animal in the eyes. Nodding Fluffy lumbered off quickly, slowly picking up speed as it wound through the trees finally moving so fast he seemed like a sparkling blur. 

“Jade…who was that little girl?” Crystal asked.

“The only survivor of this town, she said her mother and father were taken by the goblins and everyone else was killed. The temple while in bad condition was able to withstand their attacks and somehow repelled them from entering. Come on we are almost to the lair. I can sense the evil from here. No need for you to guide us Dimetrius.”

Nodding the three settle into the wagon and Crystal tosses Petunia’s used diaper by the fence as there was no point in wasting time burying it since the town was most likely to be completely abandoned to the elements. Who would want to live so close to a massacre of this proportion? 

As they drove, Jade carefully prayed to Pelor for the strength to meet all their foes and to bring justice to the dead. Pelor being a god of justice granted her the boon and restored her clerical strength for the day despite having done so at the dawn prayer she had given stating to her alone that this was a special occasion and deserved a second blessing but warned her to be careful as she would be unable to get another for a full day. 

Shortly after sunset the three come to the base of the mountains of the Roof of the World. Seeing a pair of tall torches placed on either side of a hole the four agree, with the help of the “map” that Dimetrius had in his head that this indeed was the entrance to Goblin City. Carefully the four made their way up to the cave entrance and before going in planned their move.

“Okay I can see a tiny light coming off the right wall like it is coming from under a doorway. Maybe we should have you check out the cause big sis. You are the stealthiest amongst us.” Dimetrius said in a barely audible whisper.

“Yeah that sounds smart I will check it out and move as quietly as I can down and back to see how far this tunnel goes and what other possibilities there are here. I have excellent sight due to my training and can see almost as well as a Drow inside a dark cave.” Crystal said standing up slowly from the circle. “Back in ten if not come in after me. I’ll leave marks on the walls to show where I’ve gone.” 

Nodding the three wait on one side of the entryway so that they would be out of site, while Crystal padded inside fast as lightning but silent as a cat. After eight minutes Dimetrius started to get nervous and was about to go in after her when she came back out. 

“Alright this tunnel itself is long but only has two exits one has a room with an altar that is glowing but I couldn’t read the writing. Some form of arcane language. The light we saw is to a room that I believe is filled with goblins that are either eating or fixing to eat. The door was rotting but not so bad as to let too much through. I did however see another door in the room it leads to so I’m willing to bet there is more than the few pairs of feet I saw through that door.” Crystal said pulling down her mask and taking a drink from her water bottle.

Thinking carefully Jade moves her fingers through the air in nervous habit in calculations and says “Looks like we have two choices. Option A) We break down the door and try to quickly slay whatever is in the room before alerting whatever is through that other door. Option B) we use bait and lure tactic to get them out of the room and kill them in the main tunnel or out here. I prefer Option B myself as there is less chance of being surprised by anything that could come out of that other room.” 

“I can prove a decent distraction if we go that route. If there is one thing I learned it was how to piss people and creatures off.” Kalabad said with a mischievous grin.

“When this is over, remind me that you just got strike three Kalabad.” Jade said warningly causing him to flinch.

“Just saying I can get them out here in the open easily enough, don’t bite my head off. Besides I’m going to say and do worse than that to get them to chase me.” 

“I will go hide down the hall a few yards from the door and shoot one of them in the back as they come out. If I’m lying down I can steady aim really well.” Dimetrius said nodding 

“I can take down the one in the lead as you pass. But then we have at least one more to deal with. If we drop the first two out the door then the third will alert whatever is in the back room. If we wait too long for you to take your shot Dimetrius they could still raise an alarm.” 

“Right…you’re sure there is only three in that room?” Dimetrius said after moistening his lips. 

“I believe so. Jade is there anything you want to add?” Crystal said wiping sweat from her brow. 

“Not that I can think of. Alright everyone in position, Dimetrius when you are set whistle once. Kalabad twice before you bring them out.” Jade says causing the two to nod and quietly take off down the tunnel.  
Going an extra fifteen feet from the door down the hall Dimetrius turns round and gets onto his stomach and carefully takes aim once he was set he let out a short whistle. Kalabad hearing it as well as Jades reply whistles twice. At her reply he rips the door open hard and yells, “YOUR MOTHERS SUCK COCKS IN THE NINE HELLS COME AND GET ME YOU SHITSUCKERS.” 

And he takes off towards the entrance to the screams of the three goblins that were in the room after the first two run out chasing Kalabad Dimetrius lifted the crossbow and aimed carefully. Right as the third goblin came out and turned to give chase he squeezed the trigger losing the bolt in the knock causing it to fly speedily to their target and striking the creature square in the head.

As the bolt strikes the goblin Dimetrius felt a rush of power flush over him. Shivering from the rush of power he gets up and slings the crossbow on his hip running forward as the goblin falls to the ground dead. Unfortunately he wasn’t that fast as the floor was slick and thus caused him to slip and fall on top of the dead goblin. 

Kalabad meanwhile looked over his shoulder smiling saying, “Can’t catch me you scum sucking maggot fuckers.”

Screeching in renewed rage the two remaining goblins pick up speed and right as Kalabad got to the opening of the cave he slides on his legs in a controlled fall and skid getting down as Crystal and Jade sprang around the entryway, Jade swinging her Warhammer in an overhead swing bringing her hammer down hard on the left side goblins head with a resounding crunching sound and Crystal using a speed draw of her Katana slicing deep into the belly and chest of the other. 

Dimetrius getting over to the three smiles a hugely and says, “I killed the third one out with a single shot. Got’em right in the head.” 

“Good shot. So what happened with the weapon wasn’t something magical supposed to…” Jade said as a crack of thunder peeled and a massive tanned, and very obviously male despite his very baggy satin pants, humanoid appeared in the middle of them

Cracking its neck the massive man says, “Gods it feels good to get out of that bloody bow finally. Who took the shot?” 

Hiding behind Jade who had her hammer ready Dimetrius says, “I…I did…you’re not here to hurt me are you?” 

Looking down from his full fifteen feet of height the man laughs throatily saying, “Oh you poor boy I don’t plan to hurt you. Do you not know what that bow is?” 

“I…we were told it was imbued with the powers of a deck of many things…wait…are…are you a Djinn?” Dimetrius said slowly coming around from behind Jade despite his fear.

“I am. And since you released me so quickly, ruddy miracle at that, I am going to give you a choice. Either you get four wishes. Or I give you and your three friends each one wish.” He says crossing his arms.  
“I choose option 2. I want them to have a wish each since they let me be the keeper of this item.” Dimetrius said. “Um...do theirs first please I don’t know what to ask for.” 

Nodding the Djinn says to Crystal, “Shadow woman. What is it you wish to have most at this time?”

“I’m not sure. My Katana is really good but…I could do with one that holds an edge better.” Crystal said cleaning the blood off her Katana.

Waiting for her to finish he says, “Let me see it.” 

Handing it over gently hilt first she says, “Okay.” 

Lifting the blade to his eye level he looks at it intensely and then blows on it the flicks it with a finger. Handing it back to her he says, “Your blade will never again dull and now also is imbued with the ability to channel your chakra to give it an extra bite of your natural element.”

Taking the blade from him she concentrates hard bringing up her chakra and the blade starts sparking as electricity starts dancing across the blade. “Oooh thank you. My family and clan will be very jealous of this when they see it.” 

“Now for you daughter of Pelor, what do you wish of me?” The Djinn asked turning to Jade. Stroking her chin she says, “I know it would be impossible to get what I want most as even Djinn cannot change the very nature of every living thing in this world or in the heavens and hells. So…How about that since war will always be a possibility is it possible to have my orphanage be changed into a magical building that will grow and expand to fit the children as needed and always be supplied with food, water and clean diapers for those that need it?” 

“A true daughter of the light you are.” He replied eyes glowing like two miniature suns in his head. After ten minutes he says, “It is done. Your orphanage never again need to resupply its goods for caring for the children and it will expand magically inside without altering the outer dimensions. Now for you boy, what do you want of me?”

Pursing his lips Kalabad sits down cross legged left hand on elbow and right hand on chin in thought. “Honestly…hmm…what do I want…How about a really nice tri corner hat. One that fits my head perfectly and makes me look really dashing.” He said eventually.

Smiling the Djinn snaps his fingers and a large crimson three corner hat that fit Kalabad perfectly appeared on his head matching the shirt.

“Oh now don’t you look handsome.” Crystal says truthfully but also in a teasing way causing him to blush.

“It’s very nice feels right having it there and the hat matches my shirt. Always nice to coordinate your hat with your shirt.” He says waving her off.

“Alright kiddo back to you. What do you wish for?” The Djinn said as he turned to Dimetrius again.

“I want to be able to use my breath attack like mommy. Not just once a day but multiple times like she can at the same power if possible. I think she said she can spit lightning once every three minutes. I can only spit once a day cause I not a full blood dragon.” Dimetrius says shyly 

Clapping his hands together with a resounding crack the Djinn pulls them apart revealing an amulet shaped like a sapphire dragon. “This amulet will augment your abilities so that you can do as you asked. I cannot change you physically but I can give you something that will augment your power. Wear it always lest ye lose your ability to spit lightning for as many days as it would take to catch up to what you used.” He said holding the amulet down to Dimetrius with a blue chain. 

Taking it Dimetrius slips it over his head and says, “Thank you.”

“My time here is done. I shall ne’er return from use of this bow and neither will any Djinn the power of the moon card has been fulfilled.” The Djinn said before another peel of thunder ripped as he disappeared in an instant.

“Well that was interesting. That was very kind of you to choose all four of us to get a wish little bro.” Crystal said giving him a kiss on the head.

“Yeah I love my hat. It’s really comfy and fits like a glove. That was so damn easy to get those monsters out of there I was surprised you got something so cool out of the bow so easily.” Kalabad said fingering the hat.

“Yes about that. I believe I said you were going to be punished for your foul language after we cleared that room. You have two choices Kalabad ether you come over here and take your punishment like a big boy or I punish you like the little ones in my orphanage.” 

“No way, I just brought those ugly buggers out here at risk to my life why should I be punished for that.” Kalabad said backing away slowly.

Crystal standing behind Kalabad places her hands on his shoulders. “I could do it for her if you want but I don’t think you do. I will use joint locks and pressure points to make you hold still.”  
Hanging his head Kalabad says, “Can’t I just…I dunno…not get desert for dinner or something.” 

Taking Kalabad by the arm Jade bends him over and proceeds to deliver a sound spanking on his rump. After fifteen strokes she says, “Now you are forgiven this time but no more potty mouth. Or next time the pants come down.” 

Crying hard Kalabad rubs his backside doing the spanked dance and Jade stood him over by the threes so his cries didn’t alert anything in the caves and asks Crystal and Dimetrius to go recon the empty room and see if there was anything in there now before checking what was in the second door from that room.

As she waited Jade planned their next move while making sure Kalabad was safe while he calmed down from his spanking. Crystal and Dimetrius moving slowly crept into the room and upon getting inside saw a small fire pit with a full blaze going on inside it. In one corner was a pile of nasty looking rags but Dimetrius saw something glinting under the edge of the rags. Putting a hand on her shoulder he points to it and signs him picking it up. Nodding she followed him her sword still unsheathed ready to use it in case of something hiding underneath.

Reaching down Dimetrius grabs the shining object and pulls it out revealing it to be a massive key. Looking it over he realizes the shining was due to the fire so he shrugs and pockets it. Then he heads over to the door in the north wall barely moving the door he slowly gets it open enough to see through the cracks and seeing nothing inside moving or hearing anything he nods and steps back motioning for Crystal to look just in case. Seeing better than him she scans the room and shakes her head holding up her hand in a 0 signaling nothing inside enemy wise and opens the door wide, dousing the room in light. 

Once the room was lit up the two saw a chest on the far wall from the door and before going to it check the rest of the room and inspecting the cracks and walls to make sure there were no traps on the way to it and once they were there Jade checks the chest over carefully using the barest touch of her finger. Finding nothing outside she tries to open the lid finding it locked. Licking his lips Dimetrius pulls out the key and holds it out to her but she shakes her head.

“Too big. I got some picks in my ninja pack I will have it open in no time.” She whispers. 

Pulling out her kit she sticks the picks into the lock and after about five minutes unlatches the lock and opens the chest. Looking inside Dimetrius picks up one of four glass bottles filled with a dark purple liquid and blows some dust off it to read the label. “It’s hard to make out but I think it says rejuvenation elixir.” He says handing it to her to check. 

“I don’t know how to read draconic so I will trust you on that.” She says after a moment trying to read it but only know the language if not the translations.

“Let’s put them in my own diaper bag. They will be safe in there with them to cushion them.” He says pulling off his backpack.

Nodding Crystal says, “That’s a good idea. I will hold the platinum coins in here they look as old as those bottles.”

“Okay. Let’s get back. I hope Kalabad is calmed down enough to continue. I don’t want to but if we have to we can sleep over the night outside.

Getting outside the two see that Kalabad still sobbing but it is diminished. After explaining what they found Dimetrius hands one of the potions to Jade to inspect and she pops the cork out of the bottle to give it a sniff. Looking around she sees a half dead tree and pours it on the tree and gasps when the thing just exploded with live branches and fresh leaves where it had been white and dead a moment before. “Nice…keep the rest in your pack Dimetrius. Kalabad come here.”

After Kalabad waddled over she says, “If you promise to try and curb your potty mouth you can drink a sip of this to heal your spanked bottom.” 

Nodding he says, “Promise…please no more spankings.” 

Tipping a small bit into his mouth she lets him swallow it and his sniffs subside instantly as the pain is removed completely from his backside. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to people being offended by that. I’ve been on a ship the past couple years barely making time in port we just said as we felt. I won’t do it again.” He said.

Giving him a hug Jade says, “Okay dear. I forgive you. Now before we continue on let’s have some dinner and if need take care of our potty needs.”


	3. Into the Depths of the Goblin City

Chapter 3: Into the Depths of Goblin City.

After eating a light weight but still filling dinner and the girls had soiled in a quickly dug privy the four party members venture forth into the cave and Dimetrius takes a good hard look at the altar in the other room reading it. “A riddle…I hate riddles they make my head hurt.” He said with a whine.

“Well give us the riddle dear and we can try to work it out as a group.” Jade said from the hallway as the room was just too small for all four of them to fit in.

“Well there are four stones on the alter with the signs of the 4 elements on them, one each though. Let’s see…it said something about wind blowing causing a fire to burn and water flowing and the earth to grow. It’s hard to read it’s not just Arcane it’s also in Draconic and old arcane which I can’t read too well.” He said grumpily at the end as if he felt like he was failing them because he hadn’t learned enough.

“How are the stones aligned?” Crystal asked thinking.

“In a line going left to right Wind Fire Water Earth.” Dimetrius answered.

“Isn’t it obvious you guys? Blow on the wind stone and pour water on the water one.” Kalabad said smugly. 

“Worth a shot I guess.” Dimetrius said getting his water gourd out and hovering it over the water stone he poured the water at the same time he blew on the wind stone. Instantly the wind and water stones reacted by glowing their respective elemental colors, Green for wind and blue for the water then a beam of light shot to the stone to their right causing the fire stone to glow red and the earth stone to glow brown. Slowly the glowing got brighter and the four stones shot a beam up above them with then took a ninety degree turn so that they would all connect creating a multicolored orb once the orb had finished coalescing it shot a beam of light with all four colors that it was comprised of to the wall opposite the altar and slowly a large doorway materialized as the wall essentially dissolved into nothingness.

“Well that was interesting.” Dimetrius said when the doorway finished appearing. “Nice suggestion Kalabad.” 

“Nah it was just easy for me. I heard a similar riddle back home. Though the elements were changed around a bit but it was still the same result use the element that was listed first in each pairing on the object with its symbol. Let’s go my rapier is getting eager to play.” He said walking past Dimetrius into the large open cave that was past the doorway. 

Following him in Jade came next then Crystal and Dimetrius once inside they looked around and noticed a few things. One, there was a large hole in the cave ceiling that let moonlight in. Two, there was a very large very deep pool of water in the middle of the room. Three, there were shackles on the walls lining the room and two sets of them were occupied by motionless figures along the North wall. And fourth, they could hear more manacles clinking coming from the eastern area which was pitch black. 

“I see what appears to be a chest in the pool. It’s faint but I also see the light of arcane magic on it.” Crystal whispered to the others when her eyes roved over it.

“You three want me to go check it out?” Dimetrius asked nervous. 

“Can you swim well?” Crystal asked.

“Well yes but that’s irrelevant due to my mother’s blood making me part blue dragon I can breathe under water. Um…I don’t have any extra clothes though so…I…I’m gonna have to go bare if you want me to.” He said with a nervous giggle.

“Alright go ahead and strip down look at the chest only don’t open it. Come back up when you know what the magic is. Crystal you scout the room Kalabad follow her but don’t attack anything just yet if you see monsters unless they attack first alright.” Jade whispered to them all. 

Nodding Jade and Kalabad go to the western wall and skirt the pool carefully staying in the darkest part of the shadows and inspect the two figures that were shackled to the wall and shake their heads silently seeing they were both dead and clearly had been tortured and the woman looking to be raped just from the bruises on her face and groin. Moving on they checked the rest of the room.  
Dimetrius working quick stripped off his shirt, pants and when he was just in his diaper he whispered to Jade. “I…I can’t take my diaper off myself. I didn’t want to tell the other two but…it’s part of my punishment from lord Boccob only my parents or another person whom I choose is allowed to do it. If I do something bad happens to me.” 

Nodding Jade carefully unfastens the diaper and turns Dimetrius to the pool giving him a gentle push. “Go on then dear” she said quietly.

Wading in with a gasp at the initial shock of the cold water he quickly relaxes and walks in up to his chest then dives under the water swimming down to the chest breathing as if he were on land. Once at the chest he looks it over and finding the source of the glow on the back he reads the words in Arcane script. “Knock thrice and you shall be granted three questions.” Looking at the box in skepticism Dimetrius surfaces and swims back to shore and let’s Jade wrap him in a blanket that seemed to be as warm as if it had just been pulled off a drying line in the summer sun. 

Once Crystal and Kalabad got back to them Crystal says quietly, “There are two humans on the north wall dead a man and woman mid to late thirties…quite possibly the little girl’s parents. In the north and south east corners are a total of four goblins and two bugbears.” 

Nodding Jade says, “Alright Dimetrius found the chest easy enough and read a rather interesting writing. What was it dear?” 

Teeth chattering a little bit despite the warm blanket he says, “Knn….knock t…thrice and…you sh…shall b…be ggggranted th…three q….questions. Gah either let me get back in the water so I stop shivering or help me dress please….”

“Will you be okay to strip down a second time and go in dear?” Jade asked.

Shaking his head he says, “Either I go back in now or we sk….skip it…I can’t take this c…*achoo* cold.” 

Getting a second hot blanket from the diaper bag she says, “Alright dive in and knock then quickly surface and come back I’ll get set up to get you changed and warm again.” She said laying it on the floor and giving it a bit more heat by placing a couple of sun rods on it which were like torches but couldn’t start actual fires and never went dark after being activated. Then she laid out a fresh diaper, he had actually used the last one while they were working on the element’s puzzle, as well as a fresh change of close from the diaper bag that looked as if they would fit him.

Nodding he shed the robe leaving himself bare again and just dove into the water swimming hard. Once he was at the chest he rapidly knocked accidentally hitting it 5 times and the lid opened revealing a blue fairy like creature who, upon seeing his nakedness giggled and blushed then motioned to the surface. Nodding he angled himself towards the bank and quickly surfaces going over to the group as the creature followed. 

Once back with the others Jade dried him off with the first towel then proceeded to change him into the dry thick diaper and the sweatpants, socks, sweatshirt and soft leather slippers then she tied his hair back.  
Hovering there in front of the group the creature says, “I am Drixy a water mephit who dwells in a pocket dimension that the chest leads to. It is my back door essentially. Since your cute blue friend here knocked five times I will answer five questions for you if I am able but there is a cost for the extra knocks. I will have one question in return as well as one favor.” She then sat on one of the sun rods getting warm herself as Dimetrius sat and shivered for a bit as Crystal sat down and pulled him into her lap to help warm him up.

“Hello there Miss Drixy I am Jade, these are my companions Crystal, you’ve seen Dimetrius here, and our spirited friend Kalabad. We’re here to slay the goblin king and as many of his minions as possible.” Jade said kindly siting down cross legged. 

“Ah yes I know all about that jerk. Stupid thing tried to mistake my pool for a bathroom.” She said irritated. “So what questions would you like to have answered?” She asked kindly.

“Well since there are four of us we shall each ask one and I will take the fifth. My first one is, how dangerous, that is to say what kind of nasty tricks are we going to have to put up with when we finally reach him?” Jade said.

“Well I don’t know everything but I do know that he is always accompanied by two Yojimbo and all three of them are corrupted and stronger than normal creatures of their kind.” She said. 

“Oh shoot…that’s going to be interesting…Yojimbo are a special breed of Samurai. Ninja’s and Samurai are mortal enemies.” Crystal said nervously. “Our kind were developed to counter the oppressive Samurai and lords who used them and kept taxing us into poverty and kept us weaponless to keep us from revolting.” She added seeing their looks. “Alright then I guess I should ask, how skilled are the two Yojimbo?”

“They seem to be just freshly trained but that shouldn’t work as a comfort. Like you said ninja were developed to counter the Samurai and therefore are very dangerous. I know that one of them seems to be able to slice through solid granite with a quick draw. Prick ruined my favorite statue I had here.” 

“Alright this is getting good. How big of a room are we looking at for the battle site if we fight him and his guards where they are at?” Kalabad said grinning planning his actions already.  
“I would say…about half of this cavern maybe a third of it.” She said thoughtfully.

“Are…are those two humans on the far wall the only ones who were brought back from the raid on the closest village to here.” Dimetrius said finally warming up and his teeth no longer chattering.

Face falling Drixy says, “Unfortunately yes. I tried to keep them alive but the…the damage was too great for my power to do so. I know they had a daughter because they kept begging to let them go and to let them comfort their baby girl.” 

All four looked sad at this as telling a child their parents were no longer coming home was never easy. After a bit Jade says, “What is this place? It looks like the ruins of an old city but…I’m not really familiar with the architecture.” 

“Before the great quake that destroyed the old world this used to be the capital city for the Dwarven kingdoms and was very beautiful in its time. There are many treasures still buried deep in the halls that only an army of dwarves set to repair the place could get to. There are some treasures that are out or accessible but they are guarded by those stinking goblins. The way out of this room to the next is guarded by a locking spell that you either have to be attuned to the door for or slay all the goblins and bugbears to break. That room has a powerful magical fountain on the north and south walls that will help you if you need it.” She replied before stretching.

“Well that was five now for my question and favor.” She said smiling. “First the question, do any of you have a key that was found in this place?” 

Pulling it out of his pocket Dimetrius says, “I found this one in the other room.” 

“Good then you can easily fulfill my request. In one of the rooms further on you will find a good friend of mine. He is bound by powerful magic canceling, indestructible, chains that can only be opened with the key. I want you to free him so that he can go back to his own people.” She said.

“As that is a kind act to do I would have done so anyway.” Dimetrius said pocketing the key again.

“Thank you. I’ll go now.” she said flitting back into the water and going to her chest. 

After quickly cleaning up the small campsite the four get ready to fight again though stayed on guard. “Dimetrius you may use that bow one more time for this place and once during the boss if you wish but choose wisely when to do it.” Jade said rubbing his back and sticking the sun rods in his sweater which was tucked into the sweatpants to keep him warm.

“Thanks Mama Jade.” He replied as they got to the south east corner.

The two goblins there were oblivious as to what was behind them as they were facing the bugbear and chattering loudly. Kalabad pulling out a strange looking tube which turned out to be a flintlock pistol cocked the hammer back and waiting for Jade to get in position pressed the barrel to the back of the head of the right side and says, “boo” as he pulled the trigger blowing the creatures head off with a loud bang waking the bugbear and causing the other one to turn. Jade swinging hard with her hammer caught the Goblin in the chest slamming it sideways into the wall as Dimetrius waited and watched the north side of the room expecting an ambush his left hand free so he could cast a spell if needed. Crystal quick drawing her new Katana sliced through the bugbear as a knife goes through butter and with a second stroke beheaded it just for good measure. 

Screeching the remaining goblin alerted the ones in the north who roused the bugbear up there and the sounds of manacles being released came before the sounds of running footsteps and the sick crunch of the goblins ribcage being crushed by a second hammer blow as Jade finished it off.

“Shikat.” Dimetrius said thrusting a hand forward launching five white streams of energy from it causing them to strike the bugbear in the face blinding it momentarily and causing it to enrage and swing wildly with its Morningstar catching one of the goblins in the head and obliterating it sending the brains across the wall and door as they passed it. Jumping back behind Jade and Crystal as it would take him a moment to start the spell again Dimetrius smiled and said, “Mommy will be supwised dat I cast a full stwength Magic Missile when I needed its.” 

Crystal facing off with the goblin with Kalabad distracted it well enough as he thrust his rapier up through a gap in the creatures armor causing it to be impaled through the heart. Jade swinging her hammer said, “By Pelor’s will I SMITE THEE.” And she struck the bugbear hard on the chest after parrying his blow with her shield and as the hammer struck a white yellow flame erupted from the contact point as the holy power of her invocation shattered through his armor down to its heart causing it to skip a beat and make the creature drop to his knees. Dimetrius having finished the spell Aimed from around Jade and struck the bugbear in the face again causing it to collapse backwards dead. 

“Yaay I dids it again.” He said happily causing Jade and Crystal to just smile at how easily Dimetrius was amused when his mind regressed a little.

As the four looked through the belongings of the goblins and bugbears for anything of value that could help them they hear a rumbling grinding sound as the large metallic door that the bugbear had splattered the goblin’s brains on rolled to the side revealing the room with the fountains. Finding nothing the four went through the door and once they had all gotten inside an apparition of an old dwarf appeared. “Welcome travelers to the home of the Dwarven King Grottoheart ancestor to the current king of this land. As was his custom travelers here are allowed to drink from one of two fountains. On your left is the fountain of knowledge. Those who use magic will regain all spell energy they have used during the day restoring them to full power. This goes for the holy magic’s of Clerics and priests as well as the arcane. On your right is the fountain of the heart. Drinkers of this will regain all physical strength they are known to have and heal all damage to them. Dip your damaged armor or weapons inside and they shall be repaired. Choose wisely for once you pick the other shall be lost to you. Each of you are allowed to pick individually. You must drink while you are in this room as you cannot transport the liquid past the doors.” Then the apparition disappeared and the fountains sprang to life flowing with a red potion on the heart fountain and a blue potion from the mind.

“That was weird. I personally can use all the magic I can have access too so I’m going mind.” Dimetrius said walking over to it and seeing a cup he grabbed it and took a drink. “mmm tastes like blueberry.” He said smiling as he finished and felt the rush of his two spells coming back to him.

"I haven’t taken any damage or used magic yet so I am going to hold my choice for now.” Jade said.

“Yeah we haven’t really gotten hurt so I’m good on waiting.” Kalabad said as well. 

“Alright then let’s just move on. If we get hurt or need it we can always come back right.” Crystal said walking to the door on the other side of the room and then opening it slowly she looks though to check if there were any enemies. Hearing the noise of about a dozen medium sized creatures she closes it. “This room is packed…I could see what looked like a long table across the north wall but I can’t see anything else. There was a light and shadow play so I’m guessing they are around a corner.”

“I’m getting bored with the sneak and stab routine.” Kalabad said clasping his hands behind his head. 

“Kalabad if we stop being cautious we risk falling into a trap.” Jade said kindly.

“I don’t care, there is more than enough there for me to burn out my agitation on if something happens we can deal with it then. Come on there is no fun without some risk. Besides we have these fountains here if we get hurt.” He said having a small point as there was little risk if they could just heal from the fountains. 

“Mama Jade I wanna try being a bit wisky too.” Dimetrius said with a little whine.

“No I’m sorry Dimetrius but we are not going to just run in and attack things willy nilly. Not only could you walk into an ambush doing that but you can also cause traps to be triggered as well by not paying attention.” Jade said firmly as Dimetrius loaded the crossbow.

Setting a stubborn look on his face Dimetrius ran through the door before anyone could stop him and getting the creatures in view he saw there were nine goblins and 3 hobgoblins, which were a more dangerous version than their illiterate cousins as they had higher thinking skills. Leveling the crossbow he loosed his bolt into the mass as they were not paying attention to anything but their food and a moment later he thrust his hand forward launching a volley of arcane bolts from his magic missile spell again.

Jade, Crystal and Kalabad shocked at how he had just been so reckless rush in after him and get into position to keep him from being killed as the arrow took one of the goblins in the eye and the magic missiles took a hobgoblin in the face causing them both to screech in rage and pain making the other seven of their group to all jump out of their seats and come after him. 

Jade settling her shield firmly called down a circle of protection from evil on Dimetrius making it so that he could not be touched by the monsters but still be able to attack and then settled herself into a battle stance as the first three monsters reached her. 

Fanning out in a semi-circle the goblins went three each at the girls and Kalabad while the hobgoblins stood in back screeching orders. Ace as he was at fencing and close quarters Kalabad was slightly outmatched while holding just his rapier and after being hit in the gut with the morning star of the leftmost goblin he pulled out his boarding ax to use as a defensive offense and quickly parried the blow from the right side with it and did a small spin as he thrust his rapier straight and true up through the chainmail the goblin wore and pierced its heart. 

Crystal unsheathing her Katana quickly sliced down one of the goblins as it was caught by her quick draw but unfortunately failed to see the spear the hobgoblin on her side had thrown and took it in her left shoulder. Channeling her chakra she makes a hand sign and tossed from her empty hand what looked like a small glowing marble which when it hit the ground near the hobgoblin exploded in a pillar of flame incinerating it instantly. Reaching up she pulled the spear out of her shoulder and dropped it redoubling her efforts on the two goblins left on her side. 

Dimetrius being well protected and behind his friends thought quickly on how to aid them and holding his staff aloft above their heads caused a blinding flash that affected the monsters as they were looking towards him causing them to be blinded momentarily while Jade smashed through the three goblins with smite evil and then chucking her hammer as hard as she could at the blinded hobgoblin who took it full in the face with a sickening crunch. 

Kalabad shouting in triumph not only thrust his rapier through the middle goblin but brought his boarding ax hard into the neck of the goblin on his left severing the carotid Artery effectively killing both of them quickly. After a few more minutes the remaining hobgoblin and Crystal’s last two goblins died. At the hands of the four.

As the last of the goblins died a small pop sounded and a cloth sack about 2 feet by 4 feet in size that looked relatively like any old travelers sack appeared in front of Dimetrius with a small tag on it. Before he could inspect it however it was picked up by Jade and she took him by the arm over to the benches where the goblins had been sitting while Kalabad helped Crystal to the healing fountain so they could both restore their health.

“You stupid, idiotic, reckless, fool, what in the nine hells do you think you were doing.” She screeched at him as they got to the benches and she put the bag down and sat down before pulling down his pants and diaper.

“I’m sorry Mama Jade I’m sorry pease no spank me.” He begged as he was jerked across her lap and she locked his legs in place and pulled his right arm up behind his back so he couldn’t use it to block his backside.

“Oh no you are getting a good spanking for this mister. You could have gotten yourself and all of us killed doing that.” She said giving him a very hard slap on the bare butt making him yelp in pain.

“OWIE…I’m sorry I’m sorry I won’t do it gain OW…pease no panking.” He said as she proceeded to deliver his punishment. After giving him 20 strokes she motioned for Crystal to come over and to sit down next to her.

“You’re nowhere near done yet mister. Crystal is going to give you a spanking as well.” she said as she handed him over to her. Crystal equally upset said, “Paddle if you would Jade.” And Jade took the diaper bag off her back and dug inside it and pulled out a red paddle and handed it over. 

Bawling hard as it was Dimetrius just kept wailing his apologies and twenty hard strokes later with the paddle he was being stood in a corner to calm down while Jade put the paddle away and then looked at the bag that had appeared and read the tag. “Diaper bag of holding type 4 fully stocked with diapers and changing supplies for the person who created this. Also inside are baby bottles and a hairbrush for grooming and to use as a paddle if the creator is bad.”

Interested Jade opens the bag and sees inside hundreds of bags of disposable diapers with the plastic backing, in all sorts of colors including pink and in a thickness greater than what Dimetrius had in his normal bag as well as wipes, powder, rash cream and several baby bottles all filled with juice. Calculating in her head Jade determines based on how many changes Dimetrius needed since waking up that there were enough supplies in the bag to last him six months on the outside.

Kalabad looking around the room after having healed up himself and trying to ignore Dimetrius’s punishment sees on the southern wall four treasure chests. “Any of you guys know how to pick locks or disarm traps on chests?” he asked looking them over but not seeing any traps.

“I can.” Crystal said walking over to him and taking a look at the chests finds no traps and then proceeds to pick the locks on them. Once she had them opened the chests revealed a total of 400 ancient gold coins and four more potions of rejuvenation. One chest had a strange leather bound tome and inside the cover were the words “book of tongues” And then a slew of arcane letters. Scooping up the coins Crystal puts them with the rest of them and says, “You want to grab those potions and bring them over to the table?”

“Sure thing what do you make of that book?” Kalabad said as he gathered up the potions carefully and followed her to the benches.

“No idea there is only three words I can read in the cover and it said “Book of Tongues.” I have no idea what that means but there is a lot of arcane letterings under it.” She replied. 

Setting the book down she looked over at Dimetrius who was still sobbing hard and says, “I think we should take a break here. We know the path behind us is relatively clear and could easily be guarded against and the only other exit to the room is still shut so we have some warning if something comes at us.” 

“Yes I agree. It will give us time to plan and figure out our next move.” Jade said watching Dimetrius closely having kept time on the time out mentally. “How are you two feeling?” 

“Well they didn’t pierce me but that shot to the gut hurt if it wasn’t for the fountain I…I might have asked you to “take a look” at it with your magic.” Kalabad admitted not wanting to say he had wet a little but didn’t have it bad enough to be seen. 

“I’m alright. The spear hole healed instantly when I took a drink. It was a bit stiff at first but it’s fine now. I would have let him off with just your strokes if it hadn’t been for the stiffness that occurred.” Crystal said quietly. 

“I saw the shot to your gut Kalabad …do you need a change of pants? I don’t mean do you want a diaper just a change of pants.” Jade said kindly. 

“Do you have regular underwear in the bag? Otherwise I’ll be fine it was just a small dribble.” He said with a little white lie. 

“Fraid not dear, I only have diapers and over clothes.” She said kindly. 

Thinking hard Kalabad couldn’t deny he was curious at what it would be like to wear a diaper, and despite his assurances the previous night by Jade and Dimetrius that it was alright as the law prevented ridicule of those who did wear them, was a bit concerned. Finally after a bit of thought he decided that he didn’t want to risk a rash or worse from staying is his damp underwear and says with a bit of trepidation, “Would it be alright if…if you helped me put one on?”

“Of course, do you want to do it right here or would you like some privacy?” Jade said quietly as she hiked up the diaper bag she had brought.

Blushing Kalabad says, “Privacy would be nice.” He then started walking towards the room with the pool.

Following him Jade stops him just on the other side of the door to the pool room and lays out the blanket from before and the supplies needed for a proper changing then waited for him to strip down out of his pants and underwear, the latter of which she put in a bag for washing for him before helping him lay down and proceed to work. After a quick wipe down and powdering Jade slides the clean diaper under him and tapes him up inside it before helping him settle his pants over it.

“Feels weird but…” he started blushing.

“But comfortable?” she asked.

“Yeah…I don’t plan to actually use it though…but…I might, if it’s alright, try one of those thick ones he wears later. Like to sleep in or just to relax with.” He replied with a blush at his actually liking it already.

“Well that’s fine dear I don’t mind. Like Dimetrius and I said last night there are plenty of people here that wear just because and for comfort rather than a need so if you want to I will let you have a couple of the thick ones and a couple thin ones when we get out of here to have for a trial to see if you really want to wear them.” She said smiling kindly at him as she rolled the blanket up and put it back in the bag.

“Err…thanks.” He said before walking off to the others. Crystal seeing the tiny bulge from his seat giggled inwardly and bit her lip wondering to herself if she could afford to try it as well. Shaking her head she decided against it for now and instead said as Jade came back. “Is he allowed to come out now? I need his help with translating these words in this book.” 

“Dimetrius you can come out of the corner now.” Jade said nodding.

Sniffing and hiccupping he wipes his eyes on the back of his sleeve and walked over to them looking for all intents and purposes just like a giant toddler who had done wrong. 

“Now that you’ve been properly punished and had time to think what do you have to say for yourself?” Jade said in a firm but neutral voice.

“I so…sowwy I wan in an…an gotted Cwystaw and Aimwic hurted. I p…p…pwomise to wisten an nah do it again.” He said with sporadic hiccups as he continued rubbing his eyes and his mind was set in full regression at the moment. 

Setting the diaper bag down Jade walked the distance between them and gave him a hug rubbing his back. “We forgive you dear. But you have to understand that the reason we spanked you was not to be mean but instead was to impress upon you how serious it was that you did wrong here. They got off light for your actions and could have been hurt worse. We are just lucky those font’s didn’t deactivate when we came into this room. Now since it is late and we have a good place here to rest I’ve decided we can camp out in here tonight. You go over to Crystal and help her with that book while Kalabad and I see if we can’t augment the fire those goblins had going and cook something edible for us.” 

Whimpering at the hug as he expected another slap Dimetrius squeezed her tight as she lectured him and nodded when she told him to go help Crystal. Sore as his bottom was he couldn’t fathom sitting down and whimpered when he stood next to her and she motioned for him to sit.

“Does it hurt too much to sit down lil bro?” Crystal asked as she rubbed his back when he leaned over the book to look at it.

Nodding he says, “I no wanna sit acause it hurts too much. I not be hewpfuw if I no can concentwate.” He then opened his regular bag and got out a piece of paper and a quill and inkpot from the outside pockets as he did so he felt the rejuvenation potion through the cloth of the bag and bit his lip not wanting to waste it on such a trivial thing when it could be more useful later. Setting the writing supplies down he began scribbling notes as the letters were in old arcane and he had to decipher the sentence by putting the ones he knew down and guessing what the others were. Crystal reaching under his shirt took the sun rods out as he was lucky to not have gotten a burn from them yet and then checks if he needed a change when he had been at his translation for a good thirty minutes.

Seeing that he was soaked and had a small mess she says, “Why don’t you take a break little brother so we can change you. A fresh diaper and maybe making a double or triple layer would help your bottom out. How thick can you normally go without being hindered in your walking?” she said getting the changing blanket out of his regular bag and laying it on the floor with the sun rods on the sides to keep it warm.  
“I…okay big sis…I not eben notice I went potty dis time…um…I fink I can do fwee of dem fwom my bag” he said blushing as he had only a little toddlerish sound to his speech but was still clearly regressed enough to need more of a break.

Pulling three of his diapers out of his bag Crystal unfolded them and slit a line down the backing of two of them before stacking all three with the uncut one on the outside before she laid him down and pulled off his sweatpants and proceeded to change him. As she worked he whimpered in pain when she was touching his bottom as it was still tender and very red. After she had put the used diaper to the side she slid the triple layer under him and put the rash cream on him which cooled his backside off greatly as it was meant to with a rash and he finally calmed down more from it and was perfectly still for her the remainder of his change.

Once all three layers had been taped up she helped him stand and put his sweats back on which showed quite clear now to anyone who would look at him he had a diaper on and then helped him to sit down so he could finish working. After he got back to work she cleaned up the mess and took the used diaper over to the chests and, since they were empty and not being use for anything, tossed it inside one without a second thought.

“Alright everyone food’s ready.” Jade said as she dished up some stew she had made into four bowls handing two of them to Kalabad so he could take one to Dimetrius and then getting up and handing one to Crystal who took it gratefully.

Taking the bowl from Kalabad Dimetrius slid down the bench carefully to avoid splinters that could puncture the outer diaper and says, “Fank you big brother.” Then he proceeded to eat the stew not looking up at anyone afraid they would still have looks of anger or worse disappointment on their faces.

“How are you coming along on that translation dear?” Jade asked kindly. 

“I sowwy Mama Jade but is weally hawd. I got some of it done but…but da missing pieces awe making it hawd to undastand.” He replied after swallowing his mouthful.

“It’s alright dear take your time when you finish dinner. We are going to sleep here tonight so you have time to work.” She said kindly patting his arm. 

“Okay…um…c…can I ask what dat bag was dat appeawed afta da fight…I know it’s fwom da bow.” He said hoping they wouldn’t yell at him.

“Well the bag was created specifically for you it seems.” Jade said

“Seriously how could the bow know who to make the item for?” Kalabad said skeptically.

Taking the tag off the bag she handed it to Dimetrius so he and Kalabad could read it together and Dimetrius blushed hard. “It…it’s not weally full of those is it?” he asked.

Opening the bag she says, “Look for yourself.”

He only had to glance down and seeing it was full of diapers, changing supplies baby bottles and even a randomly floating hairbrush he says, “okay…I…I guess since it made it fow me da wight fing to do is gib up my shawe of da woot till da vawue ob dis bag is met.” 

“Well we did silently agree in a way that Kalabad got first choice of the loot when we let you take the pick of the weapon of many things but since this isn’t from actual looting or chests that does sound fair.” Crystal said slurping some of the broth.

Nodding Jade agreed and said, “Whatever the case we won’t be dividing things up until we slay the king anyway so let’s not worry about that.” 

Dimetrius finishing his stew quickly let out a belch and blushed hard. “Scews me.” he said before sliding back over to the book to continue working on the translations

“Better out the front than the back I say.” Crystal said with a laugh.

Grinning at this Dimetrius concentrates harder as he was now slightly happier since he could tell they were no longer mad and getting the last few words translated he reads to them what he has. “This tome of tongue something something something speak and understand what is read. Something something something no longer able to speak any other unless you read first that tongue again.”

“Sounds like if you read past the first page here you can learn another language but you will be cursed to speak only that one until you read a new language.” Crystal said in thought.

“Yes it sounds like a cursed item to me. It would be useful to have the ability to speak any language in the world but only one language at a time and never being able to speak another if you lose the book…I don’t think we should use the book until we can translate those missing words.” Jade said 

“But…what if we need to translate somefing an we no can do it wifout da book?” Dimetrius said trying to make a point but not really helping his case by whining it.

“I said no Dimetrius you may be reincarnated but you obviously know nothing of this world’s spells and curses…no I’m putting my foot down this time if you read from it I will take you home myself and let your parents deal with you after I punish you myself.” she said cutting him off when he tried to object.

“No Jade I will punish him. His father let him come with me and I am responsible for him so if he gets seriously hurt, cursed or killed it’s on my honor and name that it lies not yours.” Crystal said.

Flinching at the thought of more punishments he closes the book and hands it to Jade, “I wasn’t twying to be bad again I just wanted ta make a powints about da possibwe need fow da book.” He said sniffing as he got up and got his bedroll out and unrolled it on the floor near the tables and crawled in to keep from getting into any more trouble.

Kalabad deciding he was tired too unrolled his bedroll near to Dimetrius but far enough for his own peace of mind and says, “Mind if one of you takes the first watch tonight?” 

“No go ahead Kalabad you can catch a few I’ll take first watch.” Jade said getting up and proceeding to set up some barricades on the closed door as it looked like it opened inward with Crystals help. Most of the barricade was the dead goblins and hobgoblins so they rifled the pockets of the creatures that had them before setting them against it.

Once the barricade was set Crystal went and got her bedroll unfurled between the boys and laid down in it patting Dimetrius’s back saying, “It’s alright lil bro there is no shame in being unfamiliar with things or with needing reminders and help. You just need to learn to listen to those who have the experience more instead of arguing everything or running in half-cocked.” 

Whimpering he said nothing and then silently cried himself to sleep feeling lower than low and his regressed mind wasn’t helping things as it was screaming at him that it was all his fault for being a stupid baby instead of being smart and thoughtful like he used to be.

Several hours later Dimetrius is shaken awake by Crystal who had taken the third shift so he could take his own turn at watch and groaning he got up and was surprised that none of his layers were wet or messed and nodding he lets her go back to sleep while he went and splashed some water on his face and came back to the room to keep an eye out for trouble. Sitting down on top of the table he got comfortable and faced himself so he could see both entrances easily and proceeded to do the meditation his mother taught him to do that would allow him to restore his magical energy and even talk to a deity if needed and still be aware of his surroundings and what his eyes were seeing.

In his mind he said, “my lord…Lord Boccob are you there? I would be very appreciative of your help if you are willing.” 

For a moment nothing happened then, in a quiet voice as though he had just woken from sleep Boccob’s voice came to Dimetrius, “I am here my boy. I have just woken for the day so forgive me if I am blunt. You may ask three questions this time if you need them.” 

“Thank you my lord. First, I was wondering…would…would you be kind enough to repair what the dragon pox did to my mind so I no longer regress into a toddler mindset…I don’t mind it when I’m at home and playing but…it’s causing me more heartache and trouble than I can deal with on this quest. It’s caused me to get in trouble by running into a room with nine goblins and 3 hobgoblins which caused two of my new friends to get hurt and our leader Jade and Crystal to give me a total of forty spanking strokes. It’s also making it hard, nigh impossible to verbally speak to them like an adult.” He said sounding really depressed.  
“You actually ran into a monster infested room ahead of your more durable comrades? Yes I can see how that is a problem…unfortunately I can’t fix that for you completely. I can fix the irrational mindset and behavior but I cannot do anything about you speech.” He replied. 

“Before I do so however I sense you have other questions so speak the two you have if there is two before I do so and leave you for the day.” He added after taking a drink of his coffee.

“Thank you. There was only one other. I hate to admit it but I don’t know how to read old arcane and, since you are the god of sorcerers and wizards I thought you would know what the words I were unable to translate were inside a book we found. Jade won’t let me read past those words because it sounds as if there is a curse on the book and well…despite my child mindset at the time wanting to do it and was on the verge of a tantrum despite my already sore backside, I have to agree it’s too risky. Would you translate it for me or at least give me knowledge of the runes I didn’t know?” 

“I’ll read your mind to see the whole thing so I can give you a proper translation. I will not let you learn such powerful and old ways so easily as it would be a disservice to you.” Boccob said.

Suddenly Dimetrius saw the runes in his head as he had seen them last night as well as what he had translated. “You did a pretty good job translating this my boy. The full translation is thus, “This tome of tongue flesh gives the reader the ability to speak and understand what is read. But be warned those who read from this book can no longer speak any language but the last one they read and are able to speak others only after they read first a different tongue.” This book is indeed cursed Dimetrius. I have seen others like it that proclaimed the ability to give the reader the skill of speaking all languages and were not truthful about their curse. You will NOT read from this book. In fact…” the book appeared in Boccob’s hands. “I am going to take it so you are not tempted. But to be nice to your friends so they do not think you stole it or anything I am leaving a purse of gold in the woman’s bag whose value is that of the book with a note stating that it was I who took it and am giving compensation for it. Now before I go and let you get back to work.” He said snapping his fingers at the end causing Dimetrius to feel a small pain in his head causing him to yelp and tear up but no longer feel like he was a toddler or have the mentality of one.

“Goodbye Lord Boccob. And thank you for speaking with and helping your servant.”

“Goodbye Dimetrius and be careful this Goblin King is going to be your first TRUE test as my servant and will be no easy fight.” Boccob replied before his presence faded from Dimetrius’s mind. 

Looking at the candle that dictated the hour that Jade had lit when they had bedded down and started their shifts Dimetrius saw that despite his seeing the room and nothing had happened it was already three hours into his watch and was almost time to wake the others so he went and got into the food supplies and proceeded to make breakfast for everyone. By the time he had finished he was in desperate need of being changed out of his triple layers but decided to wait till the food was plated before waking the others and asking Jade or Crystal to help him.

By the time he got the porridge set out and some cooked ham onto plates for everyone the others had woken up and smiling through blurred eyes said, “breakfast already?” 

“Yeah I was about to come wake you guys…um…Mama Jade can I ask a favor before you sit down to eat…” Dimetrius said in a pure adult voice for the first time since they set out.

“Alright dear…do you want to use one from your new bag or finish off your old supply first?” she said yawning heavily guessing his favor.

“I...guess finishing off my old stock first would be best as I would then be able to use the bag for other things.” He said blushing and grabbing it he walked over to the chests that he saw Crystal toss his used one into the previous night. 

Nodding she said, “Give us all a bit to go splash some water on our faces so we don’t trip over each other.” And yawning she Kalabad and Crystal walked off to the pool and splashed the ice cold water on their faces waking up instantly from the cold then she came back. Laying out the blanket Dimetrius thought about what would be needed that morning and decided to triple up again as he figured it would be better to be able to go longer before he needed one especially if they ran into the king quick.

After she had him cleaned up Jade tossed the used ones into the same chest not really thinking about it and before she could move back to the table was waylaid by Kalabad who looked embarrassed to no end. “Jade…can I talk to you in the other room a sec.” he asked.

Raising an eyebrow she nods and follows him into the pool room again and he says, “I...I don’t know why…but…I need a new one too…can you give me the once over with your magic to make sure I’m not hurt despite drinking the healing potion please?” 

Nodding she yawns again saying, “Sorry ‘bout that. Yes if you didn’t need them and were curious about just wearing and woke up in need of a change then I think I should check you out just to be safe.” She then cast the magic that Pelor had granted her to allow her to “look” into a person to see if they need healing. After scanning him head to toe she says, “I’m sorry but I can’t find anything wrong. Usually that means its psychological, emotional or stress that is causing the accident. Do you feel more stressed than normal?” she yawned again. 

“Not really. I just went to bed after my shift and when I woke up I was soaked…and…and I think I soiled as well.” he admitted blushing.

“Then you probably are feeling more emotionally secure while wearing it or you have a condition I cannot treat that is up here.” She taps his head gently, “That is causing you to need them now. Come along let’s get you cleaned up and changed.” She finished giving him a comforting hug first as he looked distressed by his possibly NEEDING diapers rather than just wearing them.

After Kalabad was changed into a moderate thickness diaper that didn’t affect his movement Jade tossed out the used one and then washed her hands in the pool before going to eat.

“Dimetrius, would you care to explain what this is about?” Jade said plopping down a sack of coins on the table the size of his head with the note pinned to it.

“Is that from where the book was?” He asked 

“It is.” She said firmly.

“During my turn on watch I did a special meditation mother taught me so as to keep my senses open to the physical plane while still being able to contact the astral plane where the gods live. I spoke with Boccob and he helped me translate those runes I had not been able to translate.” He started before taking a few spoonful of the porridge into his mouth.

“And what did he say?” Crystal asked curious now.

Swallowing he said, “He confirmed what you though Jade, about it being cursed I mean. He said he would take it from us so I wouldn’t be tempted to use it but he was going to be kind and give us the value of the book in gold in exchange. And that that note there was supposed to explain what he did. I didn’t touch the pouch or even the book after you went to bed.” 

Nodding she went to work on her breakfast and once cleanup was done the four set out again. Once they had left the room they noticed that they were in a long corridor that went north and south. On the north end was a massive steel door similar to those on fortress walls for moving large groups of soldiers or ballista and catapult’s through. Going up to it cautiously the four check around it for any traps and after finding none they open the small door in it to see what was inside. Once it was open enough they saw a massive figure bound in chains to the floor breathing heavily as though it was in pain. 

Stepping back a ways at Dimetrius’s motion he says, “What are the odd’s there are more than ONE creature here that is bound in magical chains?”

“Slim to none is my guess…you want to try communicating with the thing first?” Crystal said quietly.

“I think that is best. We can ask it a question that only we would know the answer to that it should be able to answer to confirm it is who we need to free.” Dimetrius said mind clearer than it had been in years.  
“Alright then I know exactly what to ask it. Dimetrius give me the key.” Jade said holding her hand out to him.

Nodding he complied and they walked into the room and staying on the outside of the room the walk around to its front and when they get there they see it was a massive spider. Thirty feet tall at the thorax, which was pressed to the floor due to the chains. When it saw them it started to speak with a clacking undertone to its words. “Mortals, why have you come here? This place is not for your kind.”

“We have come to destroy the evil that dwells here.” Jade said clearly though her eyes showed her terror as she was mortally afraid of spiders of all kinds.

“If you have come to slay the Goblin king then you will need help. There is only two ways to enter his chambers, my web which he uses as a rope to clime atop his lair and then down into it, and my death. Free me and I shall give you a lift to his chamber and lower you inside with a special web and my gratitude as king of the Aranea.”

“How can we trust you are not here due to some other reason besides his imprisonment? We were told this key went to the chains of the friend of one who aided us. Tell us the name of the one who aided us and is the friend I will free you.” Jade replied.

“You must have spoken with young Drixy. How was my little friend?” He said with a tone of concern.

Walking forward Jade unlocks the chains and says, “She was fine, safe and whole when we spoke and parted ways.” 

Standing up to his fullest height the Aranea king shook himself like a dog shedding water to cause the chains to fall to the floor with a clattering. “Thank you lady, If you and your friend will follow me I shall deliver you into the lair of the creature that calls himself the Goblin king.” He said turning and using his massive bulk to force the doors open. 

Following the four nervously glance at Jade having seen pure terror in her for the first time despite what they knew they were up against. After a ways the Spider king spins some of his silk into a long rope and says, “Wrap this around yourselves once and I shall pull you up behind me and lower you in from the top. Should you succeed in your quest you will not need my aid to leave, as the room will dissolve upon itself leaving the way out open to you. I shall await you near the exit. Show me his head and I will give you all a reward of your choice for not only freeing me but for destroying the one who imprisoned me.” Doing as he asked the four take it in turn to wrap the thread around themselves then he skittered up the wall and then lowered them through a hole into a pitch black room once they were all set on their feet a voice came from the darkness.

“Welcome to my lair brave adventurers, you have slain every one of my subjects and now I presume that you have come to slay me. PREPARE YOURSELFS FOR COMBAT FOR I WILL NOT GO DOWN SO EASILY.” Suddenly the room lights up in a great flash of reddish yellow light. In the far corner the heroes see a GIANT throne and seated upon it is a fiendishly looking bugbear with a black jagged stone crown and his Yojimbo standing guard on either side of him.

Sliding into position in front of their lord the two Yojimbo unsheathe their Katana and take battle stances befitting their training and rank. Crystal unsheathing hers focuses her chakra into the blade making the green lightning dance along it as Jade unsheathed her hammer and shield from her back and hip taking place next to Crystal to try and protect Kalabad and Dimetrius.

Advancing forward the two Yojimbo say in unison, “For the honor of our lord you shall perish for your aggressions towards him. For the honor of the dark lady we shall not fail.” 

Getting an idea at the oaths of honor Dimetrius yells, “Goblin King I challenge you to a duel of honor to the death.” 

Everyone stopped and turned to stare at him silent as a graveyard suddenly the goblin king said, “What did you say you puny half-man?” 

“I said I challenge you to a duel of honor to the death. Do you accept and show your honor and manhood to your guards or do you choose to lose all honor of your family as a coward.” Dimetrius said slamming his staff down beside him vertically. 

“Dimetrius no we can take them as a unit don’t throw your life away.” Jade and Crystal said as one.

“No…This is my mission given me my lord. I know what I am doing Jade, Crystal. If you are ever going to trust me then now is the best time. I do not want any of you being touched by them or their weapons. Jade if you become corrupt you cannot heal yourself and we do not need you losing your powers as a cleric and favored soul and possibly going insane and killing us.” Dimetrius said firmly looking sure of his course.  
“I accept. The rules of combat are weapons and natural weapons only no actual magic. If I am slain my Yojimbo are to disarm and conduct seppuku.” He said getting off his throne and unsheathing a black iron Katana and his Yojimbo sheathing their own and moving back to the throne kneeling down and sitting ready to do their own end of the deal.

“If I die you may fight my friends as you would have anyway. Everyone get back. Please.” Dimetrius said adding the please to make them understand how serious he was.

Once the two had a large Area clear for them to fight with Dimetrius kicked the bottom of his staff causing it to start flipping up and he spun it effortlessly and came to a battle stance with it that was vaguely familiar to Crystal. Stalking to the right Dimetrius watched the goblin king close eyes on his torso rather than the blade looking for the tell that would give him the information he needed to counter properly. Slashing up from Dimetrius’s left side going to his right shoulder in a rising moon slash the goblin king grinned at his speed thinking Dimetrius would not have the skill or knowledge of combat to fight him proper. Skipping back a step Dimetrius darted back in with a rapid continuous thrust from his staff scoring a few hits on the goblin kings armor causing small pains to him though not much as they were not strong enough to hurt through the armor itself. Using a similar back leap forward lunge the goblin king came down in the falling crescent moon slash to Dimetrius’s right side which he managed to barely deflect by using his staff as a shield. Grinning as his blade was stuck in the staff a moment the goblin king leapt forward again while simultaneously withdrawing his blade and gave a hard side thrust kick aiming for Dimetrius’s stomach. Spinning his staff down in a left hand spin he caught the goblin kings leg and spun him round causing his back to face him and gave a hard front thrust kick into his back sending him flying forward and landing hard on his face. 

“This is very weird…He is using moves only known to the masters of my clan who use staves as their chosen weapon. How could he know this?” Crystal said quietly to herself though Kalabad and Jade heard and were equally impressed. 

Breathing heavily the two face off again and the goblin king says, “You are skilled indeed boy. My mistress would be happy to have one of your qualities on her side. Lay down your weapon now and I will gift you with her blessing and show you power you never have fathomed existing.” 

“I do not need nor do I want her power or gift. I am not the man I once was and I shall never fall into the web of lies of the corrupt again. You are beaten and cannot even have a chance to win against me. lay down YOUR weapon and I will make your end quick and painless.” Dimetrius countered with a draconic growling building in his chest.

“You say you know the power of a corrupt and yet you think you can still win. Very well I will give you my full power.” He said biting his thumb and drawing a symbol on his chest his power started to build causing a black aura to start appearing around him.

With a loud crack of thunder a bolt of blue/white lightning sped from Dimetrius’s mouth piercing the aura and striking the goblin king in the heart causing him to roar in pain and drop to his knees eyes wide and red as his veins had burst. “You forfeited the match by using magic first goblin king, you have shown you have no honor and have disgraced your ancestors and descendants for all time.” Dimetrius said his mouth a bit numb from his spitting lightning thus making the words come out a little funny. Turning to the Yojimbo he takes a stance ready to fight but saw they were both dragging their tanto across their stomachs as far as they could before they passed out from the pain saving their own family honor.

Crystal walking over to the goblin king slashed his neck with her blade decapitating him and after spearing it on the end of her blade to avoid touching it so she wouldn’t need healing from touching a corrupt says, “Let’s move away from them quickly and then heal you and this head so that they corruption is removed.” 

Nodding Dimetrius moved over thirty feet away as the walls had disappeared and collapsed to his knees panting hard saying, “Please…please hurry mama…I can’t fight it much longer.” 

Working fast Jade consecrated the ground under Dimetrius for a ten foot radius and motions for Crystal to put the head inside the area as well then she cast her strongest healing spell on both Dimetrius and on the head causing huge shadows to fly off of them and dissolve in the air. 

“Dimetrius…are you alright to move now?” Jade asked when he hadn’t moved after the healing not hearing his sobbing.

Kneeling down next to him Crystal says, “Dimetrius look at me.” 

Sobbing still he looks up into her face his eyes bloodshot and waterlogged. “Dimetrius how did you learn to fight like that. You can’t have learned it here only my masters know the moves you used and they only teach it to members of my clan.” She said kindly but rather concerned.

“I don’t know…I…I just KNEW what I was doing and how to do it. It was like I had all the knowledge of…of say you...at least for the combat itself.” He said before breaking down completely and letting out wails of distress mixed with relief at having protected his friends from a fate worse than death.

Hugging him both Jade and Crystal rub his back shushing him saying, “you did a brave thing by protecting us from the risk of being corrupted which was even more brave you are not a bad person Dimetrius. You are a good, good man and need not feel that you need to fear being taken by the evil powers again. We will stay with you and help you through any pain, any heartache that may come and you will never have to worry about being a corrupt again.” 

After he calmed down he rubbed his eyes and said, “You promise…promise me that if you even suspect I am being turned you will stop me…I don’t want to cause here what I did in my past life.”  
“I promise I will prevent you from causing harm to others and yourself and to free you from the corruption as soon as possible.” Jade said not wanting to promise what he was hinting at.

Knowing it was the best he would get he rubs his eyes and hugs them both saying, “Thank you.” Then he stood up and took the head by the hair and carried it for them saying, “Let’s get the hell out of here before I have another breakdown. If you want to talk we can do so outside.” He then started walking off to the room they had slept in and got his bag and new diaper bag and put them on his back and headed for the entrance as the others hiked their bags onto their backs and followed.

Once outside they saw the spider king waiting for them and his gift to Crystal, Dimetrius, and Kalabad was ten pounds worth of his special silk that would be sticky only when the wielder needed it to be and would hold up stronger than tempered steel and yet could be as pliable as the silk from a normal silk worm. Jade as kindly as she could said, “I don’t wish to seem ungrateful…and I mean to d…di…disrespect but…please…if you wish to give me a reward…order all spiders big and small to stay the hell away from me. I’m…I’m…”

“It is no offense to me my dear. I can see the sheer terror in your eyes and hear it in your quavering voice. You are mortally afraid of all arachnid, since I am the king of spiders and all of said creatures obey my whim I shall give you this request. I hope in time you can learn to cope with your fear and will no longer need this gift in place. When it does only speak aloud that you are no longer afraid of my kind and we shall hear and slowly integrate ourselves into your presence again.” He said before scurrying off through the trees towards the swampy area of the kingdom where the entrance to his subterranean realm awaited his return.

After loading up the cart with their new goods, taking care of toilet needs and Dimetrius’s second change of the day, and Kalabad checking his padding to be sure it was secure but not used the four got into the cart and Jade got them onto the main road and pressed the horses as hard as she could allow them to be stopping only twice to water them and let them rest, once at noon and once again at dusk when they set up camp and bunked down for the night. During their ride back to the castle they agreed to wait until they turned in the evidence of their deed and got their reward before splitting up the loot. 

Once at the castle the king reclaimed the cross bow and had his chief mage inspect it for use and damage. “Thank you my heroes for a job well done. You are the only team to return with evidence that proved the task is complete and more importantly the only group to return whole. None of the others were able to return their loaned weapon and therefore forfeited any chance of a bonus. Your primary reward is a week of free services at our city’s newest and most expensive Inn, The Dancing Raven. You can sleep there, eat, and drink and if you so desire have time with their men and or women in your chambers there all for a single week. These vouchers will certify this. As for your bonus, Aram what say you the condition of the weapon?” he said calling turning just enough to see Aram inspecting the crossbow.

“It is in one piece, no damage, however two of the abilities that do not regenerate have been used…the moon and…holy shit my lord the one who used this acquired the moon and sun back to back. No curse effects have gone off…boy do you know what the sun card does?” Aram said looking at Dimetrius.

“I…I thought I just gained a medium wondrous item…it gave me this diaper bag of holding type four filled with supplies…is that not all it does?” Dimetrius said a bit nervous thinking he owed the others more than he could afford for being allowed to be the one to use the bow.

“There is more to it lad…you may not feel it right now but you are a sorcerer yes? Do you have any other skills besides Sorcery like say martial arts or anything?” 

“I…well I challenged the goblin king to a one on one death match of honor…and I fought with my staff like I had never done so before it was like I had the knowledge of someone who cut their eye teeth on a bo-staff.” He replied looking curiously at Aram.

“That is from the card…let me explain. Say a kitten had flipped the card over and normally sounded all cute when it meows. After the flip he would sound like a full grown lion when he spoke up. The sun card gives not only a medium wondrous item that is beneficial to the one who drew, or caused the activation of it but it also gives them the experience of months if not years of training and practice. You must have subconsciously wanted the skills to fight in melee combat as well as your friends here. Do you know what kind of fighting style it was? Like what flavor of staff fighting?” He said curious himself now.

“No sir…but Crystal does.” He replied.

“I believe he was thinking about my skills in the art of the ninja and chakra magic which is a part of it. He used skills only taught by my adopted great aunt and one of the dragon heads of my clan.” Crystal said surprised and flattered that he had been thinking of her skills and had gained abilities in it.

“Well lad that is luck beyond luck to have gotten the two most powerful and sought after effects of a deck of many things. If you choose to continue to serve the kingdom I would be ever grateful. As for the bonus…hmm…I cannot think of anything that would be fitting other than allowing you all the chance of being made honorary knights of the realm. You will not be paid as honorary knights but you will be given the same discount as full-fledged knights.”

“Thank you your highness but I must regretfully decline. I have much too much on my plate as it is being matron of the orphanage, favored soul of Pelor, high priestess of Pelor, and occasional adventurer to help protect the kingdom to add more to my plate by having more to do.” Jade said politely.

“Oh you need not worry about extra duties. I would not send you out on patrols or ask you to uphold the law in the way a regular knight would do. I would only call upon you if there is something grave threatening the kingdom and would need the help of you four.” The king replied seeing her worry clearly.

“Well…if that is the case then I cannot refuse.” She said bowing and the kneeling down.

Dimetrius excited said, “Thank you your highness.” And he quickly kneeled down with Jade.

“Thank you but I cannot accept titles until my trial as a Ninja is over.” Crystal said bowing to him palms flat on her hips and bending at the waist stiffly.

“Thanks but no thanks. I don’t want to be tied down by a title even if it is honorary and nothing more is asked of me for it.” Kalabad said kindly but sort of bored as he bowed as well.

Unsheathing his broadsword from its scabbard King Gorgash firmly struck both shoulders and the top of the head of Jade and Dimetrius saying, “I dub thee Lady Jade. Honorary knight of the realm. I dub thee Sir Dimetrius. Honorary knight of the realm. May all of your adventures be fruitful and may your weapons never fail you.”

Before they left a servant woman rushed over to them holding two badges and four vouchers. The badges were the knight badges for honorary knights and she gave them to Dimetrius and Jade then passed out the four vouchers before bowing herself away. 

Bowing a last time to the king the four decide to go to the new Inn and spend part of their vouchers there while they divided the gold up from the chests and the sack that Boccob had left them as well as the potions. Once they had a table to themselves they opened the large sack and upending it spilled 300 platinum coins onto the table. 

“You guys…you can split those between you three. I only want one of the potions had an equal part of the gold coins we recovered from the chests.” Dimetrius said.

“Are you sure you only want a tiny piece dear? Even if we divide the total up between us and cut out the cost of your bag and supplies in it to divide among the three of us you still would deserve decent piece of the platinum.” Jade said shocked he would not want a fair piece of the loot.

“I’m sure. I may be half dragon but I also don’t feel I deserve any of that. No don’t argue mama Jade I’m serious. My past life crimes alone cause me to not deserve it. Just divide it amongst the four of us but then take the pile of platinum and the gold that is left over after accounting for my new bag and divide it three ways. Jade use the third you get for the children. I don’t want to recount what I did back there but I am responsible for a lot of death. Helping children who need it most is a good start to washing the blood on my soul away. And it is also the right thing to do. Crystal, Kalabad … you can do what you will with the shares you get. I only want just enough to give mother and father a very decent cushion, money wise, to get supplies for my soon to be hatched sibling.” Dimetrius said firmly putting his foot down about the loot division.

“Alright then dear, the children will be very grateful for this. That wish may expand the inside and provide food clothes and changing supplies for them forever now but children need more than that to be happy and to grow well.” Jade said patting his arm gently with a smile.

After the money was divided the four ate drank made merry and slept at the inn for the night. The following morning they had nice long relaxing baths, Jade and Dimetrius shared a room so she could change him and after they had been thoroughly scrubbed, dressed, and Dimetrius getting a fresh diaper on from his new bag, and to his internal amusement Kalabad having come to his room to ask Jade for one last diaper as he had soaked it during the night again and after she helped him put it on promised to go right to the shop that sold the diaper supplies and get his own if only for night protection and daytime experimentation.  
Before he left to go home Crystal caught up with Dimetrius as he was leaving the inn with a promise to return later that week to catch up with everyone and she says, “If it is alright I would like to come visit your family and we need to talk as well.” 

“Um alright, I warn you though dad can be very…strict when it comes to proprieties of manners and mom can be a really nasty lady if you accidentally misstep with manners to dragons. But she is more lenient as not everyone knows the dance of manners that is for her kind.” He said smiling. 

“That’s perfectly fine. I figured they would like to meet one of your companions on the adventure we just had. Besides, someone has to make sure you tell the whole truth about what happened.” She said patting him on the butt for a diaper check.

Blushing he says, “I don’t lie to my parents. They know when I do. Always did and every time I did they gave me the worst spankings ever, worse than when Jade and you took me to task for running into that room where we spent the night. So what did you want to talk about?”

As they walked out of the city gates she says, “Well since you are now skilled in the martial art of the ninja I thought you would like training in Chakra magic. I can even advance you in your martial training for Ninja life though at some point you will have to come with me back home and be initiated into the clan and formally show your skill to get your trial and official title with us if you want to honor me and our ways.” She then looked at him smiling and added, “besides how can I leave my little brother to muddle along and try to learn something he doesn’t know on his own?” 

Blushing he says, “I thank you and if mother and father agree I accept as well. They may or may not let me go on more adventures after we give them the full story. Especially since pop is getting on in years and can’t really do all the farming himself and mama should have just laid the egg yesterday and would therefore be weak from childbirth. It should be hatching by the time we get home if we pick up our pace. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a dragon hatchling come out of its egg.” Then he picked up the pace and she kept up with him.

A couple hours later Dimetrius leaned his staff on the outside of the house and opened the door. “Mama, Papa I’m back. And I have a lot to tell you.” Dimetrius called as he showed Crystal inside.

“We’re in your little sisters room Dimetrius. Come say hello to her.” His father called from deep in the house.

Leading Crystal to the room smiling widely he says, “Have you named her yet papa?” and turning the corner he sees his mother sitting in the rocking chair holding a pink blanket wrapped around a little blue scaled baby girl who was drinking from his mother’s breast.

“We were just discussing names sweetie. But it seems you have a guest come in deer any friend of my little Dimetrius is welcome here.” Sapphire Wind said to her son and Crystal. 

“Mama, this is Crystal. Papa you met her when I left the other day she was the girl who bought a tomato from our stand. Crystal this is my father Drognan and my mother Sapphire Wind.” Dimetrius said introducing her.

“Yes I remember. How are you my dear? Did your mission go well?” He said motioning to the extra rocking chairs as he went back to stocking the changing table with the proper size diapers. 

“As well as could be sir. We found the lair of the target quick enough and Dimetrius here managed to trick it into a duel of honor to the death and won. But I think he should be the one to tell the whole story and I’ll just fill things in as needed.” She said smiling.

And so over the next hour he explained everything starting with meeting Jade and Kalabad, how the special weapon had been imbued with the powers of a deck of many things and how he had acquired two of the most powerful beneficial effects from it and sharing the first. He wanted to leave out his being spanked but Crystal saw through it and told them herself when he tried to skate past it. When he mentioned the amulet that he got from the wish his mom asked to see it and getting up he walked over to her and pulled it out of his shirt to show her. 

“This is well made. I know the magic of this artifact it was created by Lord Bahamut himself for the kings of each dragon breed but several were said to have been lost to time. You are most fortunate to have this son. Cherish it but do not abuse the power it holds.” She said fingering the amulet with one hand.

“I promise mama. I only used my breath once since acquiring it.” He said before sitting down again and finishing his story. Once he finished he asked, “So…since I have skills that Crystal can help me master and teach me more of can I continue traveling with her and eventually go to her clan and do what I need to do before I get my title? You always told me to be respectful of other people’s ways and to do honor to myself and my family.”

“We did say this many times when you were growing up. And we do stand by this moral. So long as you behave yourself and do what is needed for your missions from Boccob I have no qualms with you being allowed to travel. I would prefer you not leave as I need your help but I can manage the farm on my own. I did for twenty years before I met your mother and she is a good help herself when she isn’t laid up with pregnancy.” His father said smiling taking the baby girl from Sapphire Wind and rocking her gently as she had been making grabby hands at him.

“Thank you father, mother, I swear to honor you and our family with my actions. Shall we try and name my little sister now?” he said grateful that they agreed to let him travel.

“If you would permit it I would like to assist.” Crystal said happy as well that they allowed Dimetrius to be honorable to her and her clan by properly taking training in her art. 

“Of course dear, let’s get this little lady changed into a nice clean diaper first and we can all fawn over her.” Drognan said smiling as he laid the girl down on the changing table and getting a large thick diaper out that had a hole in the back with an extra sidelong tape. 

“Wait she has a tail. Does my baby sister have wings too?” Dimetrius said a little jealous but more surprised.

“She does. I’m sorry you didn’t get the wings and tail to fly with sweetie but try not to be jealous. You can do things she won’t be able to claim.” Sapphire Wind said. 

“I can’t say I’m not jealous but you are right mama. I can do things she will never get the experience to do. I will try and make her proud I am her brother…OH Shi…err shoot. I almost forgot.” He said taking his regular bag off his back and pulling out a small sack of 100 gold and 10 of the platinum coins. “This is for you and my little sister, my share of the money loot from the quest. I don’t really want it but I know you will need it for supplies and whatnot for her.” He said plopping the bag into his mother’s hands. 

Drognan picking up the little girl turns and sits in the remaining chair saying, “I know you don’t want it son but you should keep some so you can get supplies you need for yourself. We are not so poor that we will be hard pressed to provide for her.”

“No papa you keep it I don’t want to argue or fight just do this for me please it’s not even half of my share. I sent some to the orphanage as a charity and gave the rest away. I don’t want or deserve all this treasure. If you really talked to my lord and Lord Bahamut then you know why I feel as I do.” He said as he looked at his baby sister.

“Alright then but don’t think we won’t talk about it later. This is obviously a family matter to talk about and would be rude to our guest and your friend to do so now.” Sapphire Wind said causing Drognan to close his open mouth as he tried to object again. 

Crystal having kept quiet the whole time laughed internally at how easily he had thrown his parents off yet also how they were treating him like a stubborn child. Much like her mothers had done for a while before she left on her mastery trial. “How do you feel about Skyla as part of her name, or maybe Sky?” She said as she noticed the girl’s scales were a very pale blue like a clear summer sky.

Looking close Dimetrius said, “Maybe Pearl or Aquia?” 

“Since she is so much more like your mother than me I was thinking something that reflected her name and was thinking something elemental sounding. So what about we combine all three ideas, Skyla Pearlwind?” Drognan said thinking.

“How about… Aquia Skywind?” Sapphire Wind said smiling making kissy faces at the baby girl who babbled at her.

“Both are very beautiful sounding and befitting such a cute little girl. I happen to have a chance cube here if you want to leave it up to fate to decide between them.” Crystal said pulling a six sided cube out of her sash half the sides being blue the other half green. 

“It is a hard choice what do you think dear?” Drognan asked his wife.

“Let’s do it that way then. Blue is Skyla Pearlwind green is Aquia Skywind.” She said smiling letting Crystal toss the cube on the floor letting it bounce and tumble.

Eventually it stopped moving and the name was chosen. Aquia Skywind was now Dimetrius’s baby sister and smiling he took her in arm holding her for his parents while they signed the birth certificate. After they did this Dimetrius gave her back to his mother and with his father’s permission set up the guest room so Crystal could sleep over for the night and then they could return to the city in the morning. Him to deliver the copy of the birth certificate to the castle so she would be counted for tax reasons and for the census on the diaper questions, and her so she could go back and do some more exploring of the city maybe with him along to act as a guide and friend.

After dinner Dimetrius was showing Crystal to her room and said, “Thanks for letting me come along on the adventure Crystal, and thanks for not turning on me when you found out about my past life. I was afraid you Jade and Kalabad would not be so forgiving that it is a great relief that you were.”

“Don’t mention it you big blue baby. I thought it was fun traveling with you and now that your parents agreed to let you come with me and to get proper training we will be together for a long time. Though we will have to discuss things in the morning, for now though let’s just get some sleep I am exhausted and could use a good one.” She said clapping his shoulder as he blushed at being called a baby.

“Good night then see you in the morning.” He said going to his room across the hall and setting his new diaper bag on the hook on his changing table.

“Good night.” She echoed and closed the door to her room and set up a few traps before disrobing and getting into a nice thick green diaper from her bag that she had bought the previous night before going to bed. After she was padded up she crawled into the bed and fell asleep quickly smiling as she did so.


	4. Rough Seas Ahead

Chapter 4: Rough seas ahead.

Two weeks after defeating the Goblin King, Dimetrius and Crystal are walking through the main part of the capital having just exited the specialty goods shop where he usually got his diaper’s from. “Thanks for not judging me about them little brother. I do like how they feel but I don’t want the other’s to know just yet that I am wearing them for comfort.” She said quietly as he settled his diaper bag on his back having put her bags in it for safe keeping so the others wouldn’t see they were more to her tastes than his. 

“It’s the least I can do Crystal. After all you are teaching me the things I didn’t learn from that knowledge spike from the bow I got. And you are nice enough to change me without question or flinching which is a great relief to me. I still say you should have tried on a couple of the swim ones though and gotten one. You never know when we would need them.” He whispered back as they walked towards the closest restaurant for some lunch. 

“Maybe next time but not now, besides it gives me incentive to back in there doesn’t it?” she said with a laugh as he pursed his lips and nodded with the , “you got a point” look. 

“So what do you plan to teach me today? Do I get to learn how to throw fire or do that weird shadow stepping thing yet?” he asked hopefully despite her telling him that he was not going to learn those moves until he had learned all the basic stuff first. 

“Nice try little brother but you know the answer to it. No today we are going to teach you how to make smoke bombs and then how to use them properly to make it look like you vanished.” She said sitting down at a table and making him sit on her right.

As he sat down a serving wench who wore nothing but a canary yellow shirt and matching diaper came over and handed them both a menu. “What can I get you two to drink?” she said. 

“I’ll have a flagon of ale…and he will have the bottle of milk.” She said seeing they had AB items on the menu and decided to baby Dimetrius a bit since it had been a couple days since either of them did it.

Nodding the waitress grinned and walked off crinkling loudly to get the drinks while the two looked over the menu for what they would want. “I guess because of the bottle you’re making me go baby for lunch and I have ta order off the “baby” menu?” Dimetrius said with a fake pout.

“Well since your big sister is paying and you’ve been a bit tense lately yes. You’re getting some baby treatment between now and dinner.” Crystal said ruffling his head.

Blushing hard making his face scales turn a nice purple color Dimetrius says, “Can I at least choose my food myself? Pwease.” And he gives her the puppydog pout look. 

Laughing heartily she says, “You can suggest things but I reserve the final decision.”

Smiling a little he purse’s his lips and thinks as he looks over the “baby” themed items on the menu and sticks out his tongue quiet often as the items were all things he hated with the exception of two, Chicken fingers and Macaroni and cheese. As the wench came over with their drinks he shows his choice to Crystal and she says, “Pick a vegetable too or I will you have to have at least one.” 

“I hate vegetwables” he said pouting for real.

“Alright I’ll choose.” She said before turning to the wench she says, “I’ll have the T-bone steak, medium well, with a garlic butter baked potato with chives. He will have the chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese and the mixed steamed vegetables. And can you point out the closest restroom with a changing table and spanking stool?” 

With an audible “EEP” Dimetrius put his hands over his padded butt as the wench says, “The restroom with a changing table is over there but we don’t have a stool in there for spanking. The owner believes that spankings are to be done openly in public to show other “littles” to learn how to behave properly so he has a special bench along the wall over there that you can use if needed.” She pointed to the two directions and when Crystal and Dimetrius looked in the second direction and see a large wood bench that had a raised cushion on it on one end that would make the rear end of the naughty person to be more pronounced as well as a pair of cuffs on the other end to force them to have their hands forward in front of their head to prevent them from trying to cover up their bottom.

Nodding Crystal says, “Looks just like the one momma used to have when I was little.” 

A second later the wench went to the kitchen to fill their order and Dimetrius says, “You wouldn’t really…not in public…” 

“If you behave yourself you won’t have to find out.” Was all she said before getting out a scroll from her bag and unrolling it a little. “Alright then let’s review on what I’ve taught you so far. It will be a bit before our food comes out so we have time. First off what is the code of the ninja?”

“The ninja is an agent of change. He takes no more than is necessary in payment for his actions. The ninja is silent as the grave and uses all that he has available to him to do any job he is on. His best friends are silence and shadow and his enemies are pride and vanity. Umm…A ninja never kills the innocent and never spares the wicked. Honor the code of bushido and honor the code of the ninja or risk the pain of the Oni and Sha taking your soul for their plaything.” Dimetrius says slowly pausing for a moment but holding up his hand to prevent Crystal from helping him.

“Very good, now what is the code of Bushido?” she said 

“The code of Bushido are seven virtues all ninja and samurai must live by to gain a place of honor with their ancestors and society. They are Gi, Yu, Jin, Rei, Makoto, Meiyo and Chugi. Loss of one is loss of all and can only be regained by two actions, great sacrifice of the self to cause a change for the better in the life of those who need it, and Seppuku.” Dimetrius said before picking up his bottle and suckling from it a little.  
“Good but what do the seven virtues mean and what is Seppuku?” Crystal said drinking from her flagon.

“Gi is Rectitude, Yu is Courage, Jin is Benevolence, Rei is Respect, Makoto is Honesty, Meiyo is Honor and Chugi is Loyalty. Seppuku is Ritual suicide where the dishonored one must take his sword, usually a Wakizashi or Tanto, and impale himself in the stomach on the left side then draw the blade across to his right. The farther he pulls the blade before his second decapitates him the more honor he restores to his family name.” Dimetrius said as he shifted nervous hoping he hadn’t messed up anything.

“Good. Now tell me what ninjitsu art’s you have learned so far and what they do. I want the proper name not the translated name. If you do well enough on this you can have desert if you don’t you get twenty swats on the table over there.” She said giving him incentive to be careful and think hard.

Closing his eyes Dimetrius thinks hard to try and remember how to pronounce the words of the three moves he had learned and their descriptions. “The first was…Kazeken Wake. It is a chakra based attack that involves drawing the blade at a high speed causing a wave of energy in an arc that can cut through any non-magical material. It is very difficult to generate enough chakra to do it more than once every few minutes. The second is…Kumo ashi. It is again a chakra based ability that allows the user to infuse the souls of his feet with a bonding power that allows him to climb on and stay connected to the walls and ceilings of any material like a spider would be able to. The third…damn it what was it called…shit.” He said getting upset that he couldn’t remember it right off despite it being the easiest one. 

Crystal pulling out the notepad inside her tops left inside pocket flips it open and makes two hash marks in it causing the marks to equal five naughty words that day.

“Zetsumei Tama. It uses Chakra to cause a projectile to be one hundred percent accurate to where it was being shot or thrown.” He said eyes snapping open. Seeing the notepad he gets scared knowing what it was.  
“Good but you know what happens now you just got your fifth stroke of the morning. Either we do it now on the table or we wait till we get back to the room where you get extra strokes.” She said firmly.

“I’m sorry sis please…not here. I don’t want extra strokes but public is too much. I be good I promise.” He said with a whimper.

“Alright we’ll wait till after lunch and we get back to the room.” She said as she saw the wench bringing over their plates.

After the wench set the plates down she also placed the bill on the table next to Crystal and said, “If there is anything else I can get you let me know.”

“Yes do you do take home plates? If so what kind of deserts do you have?” Crystal said as she proceeded to cut up her steak.

“We do and today our deserts are apple pie, chocolate fudge brownie, and strawberry short cake.” She replied.

Seeing Dimetrius perk up a bit at the brownie Crystal smiles saying, “We’ll have two brownies to go.” 

Nodding the wench took the slip for the bill back and went to the kitchen to add it to the bill. By the time Crystal and Dimetrius had finished their lunch the wench had come back and put two fresh squares of brownie in a to go box on the table with the new bill. Putting a tip of 1 platinum coin on the table Crystal went and paid the bill before coming back to get the brownies and lead Dimetrius to their room in the inn down the road still intent on giving him the spanking he earned. 

Dimetrius knowing he wasn’t going to get out of it just followed and mentally kicked himself for letting his old habits keep getting him in trouble. Once in the room Crystal shuts the door behind them and sets the brownies on the small table and takes the diaper bag from Dimetrius and pulls out her diapers sliding them under her bed then gets the paddle out of the bag. Pulling down his pants then diaper she pulls him across her lap and says, “I hate doing this little brother but I hate that language more and you will learn to stop using it one way or another.” And she proceeds to give him a hard twenty strokes which made him cry out with each one before falling into a blubbering mass at the end. When she finished she pulled his diaper up and lay him on his stomach on the bed so he could cry himself out.

Meanwhile over at the orphanage…

“Thanks for helping out Kalabad I’m very grateful that you chose to come here and stay with us for a while. I’m sorry your …” Jade said before he cut her off.

“Yeah I know it sucks that it hasn’t stopped but can we please just not openly talk about it. I appreciate your concern and help by changing me when I need it while sleeping but please don’t talk about it.” He said as he chopped up some vegetables while she was stirring a pot of soup. 

“Alright I’ll say no more unless you want to talk about it. You won’t guess who I saw in the market yesterday while you were watching the kids with my assistants for me.” she said. 

“Was it Dimetrius or Crystal?” he asked curiously having not seen them since they split up after the division of the loot from their adventure.

“Actually it was both. Dimetrius was happy that you were still in town and said if we wanted to we could come over to the Dancing Raven Inn that he and Crystal are staying at. She has taken him as a pupil in her craft and is also curious how you are doing.” Jade said.

“That’s awesome that she did that for him. Poor guy…I can’t imagine being a farmer for your whole life especially if you have memories of your past life and know you got to travel quite a lot. When can we go see them?” He said moving the vegetables into the pot she was stirring.

“We can go as soon as the children have eaten and my assistants return from their shopping trip.” Jade said tapping the large heavy spoon on the top of the pot before covering it again and going out to the main part of the orphanage in response to some yelling that was going on between some of the children, and not in a playing way. 

Ten minutes and a very sore hand later Jade had five children in separate corners their bottoms on full display and bright red. “I’m very ashamed of the lot of you. Using those kinds of hateful words towards each other, you know better than to act in such a way regardless of what happened. You stay there until I come back to get you.” She scolded as they cried their pain and shame out in their corners.

Going back to the kitchen she starts getting out bowls and cups with Kalabad’s help and sets the massive table with them. “Did I hear some of the words you blistered my butt for on the mission come out of those little kids?” He asked as they moved along the table. 

“Yes you did. I would rather you not talk like that but given how we are not on a mission anymore and how I agreed to treat you you’re actual age unless you choose to take time to be like the children I can’t punish you for it while you are out of the playtime mode.” She said slightly angrier than she had meant to.

Once the table had been set, the bowls filled with soup and the cups and bottles (for those who needed or wanted a baby bottle) were filled with juice Jade called all the children to the dining room including the five who had been spanked and made the ones who were spanked apologize to each other and hug it out in front of the other kids before they could sit down. 

Shortly after the children had sat down Kalabad and Jade finish their own food and were putting the bowls and cups in the sink when the rest of the servants walked in having finished their shopping trip and put their things in their quarters. As the two walked towards the front one of the priestesses said, “M’lady, I have a message here for you m’lady it’s from the king.” 

Taking it Jade says, “Thank you dear. Stay a moment in case I need to give you some instruction.” Then she opened the letter and after a quick read says, “Right. Tell Abigail it’s her turn to be in charge while I am gone. I don’t know how long it will be but it sounds like I am going to be gone for about a month if not more on the outside. Also Bobby, Bridget, Samantha, Sean, and Talia have all been given a firm spanking for not only yelling inside but also for yelling bad words at each other. Inform Abigail of this. Kalabad let’s get our gear It seems we are going to have another adventure on our hands.” Nodding the priestess ran off to do as she was bid and Kalabad walked with Jade to the quarters that they shared to get their weapons and his armor. 

By the time they get to the castle Crystal and Dimetrius, who still had puffy eyes from his cry after being spanked. Seeing him like that Kalabad and Jade said nothing about it but say, “So you two got a summons as well? It looks like we’re going to have something interesting to do this week.”

“Dimetrius, may I ask you something before we go in?” Kalabad said.

“I guess.” He replied with a sniff trying to clear his sinuses.

“I was just curious if you were going to be doing nothing but training what you need to learn from Crystal or if you were intending to continue your sorcerer training as well?” Kalabad asked as he shifted his backpack a bit.

“I…I don’t know actually. I really like learning what Crystal is teaching me and…well…you know about my former self I can’t say it doesn’t frighten me a bit to think that there is a chance it could happen again. I did some digging on the Deck of many things effects these past two weeks when not studying with Crystal. I…well let’s go see what our liege has to tell us then I’ll explain things more if you wish, it’s rather interesting what I learned.” He said giving up on sniffing to clear his sinuses and instead got a handkerchief out of his ninja outfit’s pocket to blow his nose. 

Nodding Jade says, “Yes it is best not to keep the king waiting when it is an urgent matter summons.” And she led the three into the castle and directly to the place that was indicated on her version of the note.  
Upon arriving at the room the four see the king sitting next to a waterlogged, shaken, and clearly terrified young sailor. Whispering just loudly enough to the other three to hear, or so he though, Dimetrius says, “Dear god he looks as if he just saw a Kraken.” Unfortunately the word Kraken caused the man to look up and scream in terror, head pivoting around rapidly looking for something before he started shaking harder and to look back down whispering to the king.

“Please heroes sit. This is something most troubling and this young man has much to tell.” The king said kindly motioning to the chairs across from them though he glared at Dimetrius a moment with a, “did you have to say that word” look.

Once they had sat down the sailor spoke softly and was very shaky in his words, “First off my name is Marien and I was a deckhand on the ship of The Terminator, which is one of the three fastest ships under the kings employ. When we were about fifty miles from docking at Pearl Bay our boat suddenly stopped and a fog, which was so thick that you couldn’t tell which direction you were looking, quickly appeared. After about ten minutes in the fog, I started to hear a strange sound, which didn’t sound like any sea creature known to man, coming from below the ship. Suddenly the ship started sinking and I only had a moment to act. I grabbed one of the empty barrels from the side of the deck and cut the rope that was holding it down. When the water was level with the deck of the ship, I took the barrel and used it to float and swam for all I was worth, not knowing if I was heading toward land or away from it. As I was emerging from the fog I saw that I was actually swimming towards the harbor. Then as I took one look back to mourn the loss of my friends that were on the ship, I swear that I saw just a bit of the ships outline through the fog and…and something colossal emerge from the water and wrap around the last bit of the mast. I beg of you please help me avenge the loss of my friends, my brothers at sea.”

Standing up the king motioned for the four to follow him out of the room as Marien broke down completely and started wailing in terror, shame, sorrow and confusion. Following the king the four looked at each other worried. After they were all in the hallway again the king shut the door. Once it was shut he says, “I must be frank with you, ‘tis not the first time I have herd of strange occurrences in that particular area of the sea, and before today I thought they were just stories. It is said that in that area, before the quakes that destroyed the old world, there was a great city that makes my castle and the town below it look like a farmer’s thatched barn.”

Correctly guessing the skeptical look on their faces, the king states, “I know it sounds far-fetched but I had my best scholars dig up all they could find on the old world and they found this map.” He then unfurls a map that is four square feet and they notice that the continents appear to be the same as they are now but that there are large islands that are not on current maps. The king points out where the port town of Pearl bay, which was about twenty miles south of the capital, would be if it were on this map and using the measuring chart on the map he shows the four the spot that is about fifty miles from the coast. They notice immediately that the spot he points out shows an island about two miles from the spot where the ships have been disappearing. “Now that you have seen this map you see that the stories that I heard about the strange cities could very well be true. I ask that you go to this location and find out whom or what is causing these strange disappearances and recover the crates that were stolen. Upon your return I will reward you greatly.”

“Your highness may I speak freely?” Dimetrius asked kindly.

“You have leave to speak Dimetrius.” He said curious as to what the boy would say.

“I’m sorry my liege but…how in the nine hells are we supposed to do this? If his story is true about a colossal thing wrapping around the mast I can guess what it was that sunk the ship and…All the spells I have seen to allow breathing of water, even sea water, would run out before we could dive down far enough to reach the location this think would likely be at.” Dimetrius said nervously. 

“You are a bright lad. And I admit that this is something that would pose a problem…If Aram hadn’t been working on it himself. He has created and tested some amulets that will help you. We are lucky that he was able to create as many as he had as he is now recovering in his rooms with a cleric on hand to heal his wounds that seem to be appearing every few minutes.” He said pulling four large amulets in the shape of a sea wave. 

As he passes them out he says, “They will allow the possessor to breathe underwater and to swim so fast that you could go from the coast right outside of our walls to the closest neighboring island country Rotaderp in the matter of one hour. You will also be immune to water-based attacks and will not need to undergo the slow compression and decompression as you would if you just used a water breathing spell to dive down as far as you could go and then surface.” Jade and Dimetrius knowing that the journey to Rotaderp would normally take six days aboard a ship go wide eyed in awe. “There is a downside though, my friends. As my mages were testing these amulets, they found that the moment they came into combat with sea creatures that they no longer swam with the extreme speed. So you must be careful while swimming to avoid things that might attack for no reason. Now I have cleared my last ship to carry you to the spot of the disappearances so that they can carry the cargo you recover for you once you get it to the surface. If you need any provisions apart from food and water I have cleared the shops in the city to give you the supplies you need and to send the bill to the treasury. I do ask you don’t go overboard however.”  
Nodding the four put the amulets on and say, “You can count on us sir. We shall recover the items that were stolen and put an end to the raids.” 

Dismissing them with a, “thank you” the king goes back into the room to calm the sailor down again. As they leave the castle Dimetrius says, “Kalabad …I don’t know if you are still having trouble but if you are we should stop at the shop I get my…my diapers from. They have swim diapers there and some really special ones that instantly clean themselves while they are being worn. Even if we do get to the place easy enough we may end up needing to “camp” down on the sea floor so…”

Blushing Kalabad says, “Yeah okay…might as well. So tell us what you learned about that deck.” 

“Well it is very interesting really…I learned what cards do what, how they work and how a normal deck does have a few cards that regenerate instantly in a random spot. Also with a normal deck you have to verbally declare how many cards you are going to draw before you do so, and you must draw each one within an hour of the last or it will flip over on its own and activate whether you are near it or not. After the last card is drawn you can’t draw anymore unless the card has the effect of allowing or forcing you to do so.” Dimetrius started. 

“So you know exactly how it works now. That’s a good thing but how can you be excited about it if you know what the bad ones are?” Jade said seriously.

“Because the good can and in most cases DO outweigh the bad. There is only one card that is bad enough to make one think twice. However with a little patience and a lot of searching I found a way to make it not so bad.” He said hands behind his head fingers laced together. 

“And what is this card that is so bad?” She said sternly.

“I’d rather not say unless we come across another deck because you are such a fuddy duddy Jade.” He replied teasingly.

Kalabad laughed at this, “He has a point Jade you can be a stick in the mud at times. Look at what happened with Dimetrius. We allowed him to take the risk of the weapon and he ends up not only giving us all something nice but also saved our respective asses from that monster. Can you honestly say that if he hadn’t gotten that power boost as well as the intelligence boost that caused him to challenge the goblin king to a fight of honor that we would all be here now in one piece?” 

“No…no I cannot but you cannot say the opposite is true as well. We could have come out of the fight just fine in a three on four fight especially with his magic spells to aid us not to mention my Cleric magic to keep me safe from corruption as well as being able to cure you three from it.” She said with a point as valid as Kalabad’s.

“Mama Jade if you promise to not get all mean and punishment happy or anything I will tell you. But you have to promise first.” Dimetrius said as they got to the entrance hall.

“I can’t promise not to get angry but I promise to not punish you for telling me about it.” She replied knowing this game due to the kids at the orphanage and knowing it would be something that would definitely piss her off.

“The card strips the soul of whoever drew it and puts it somewhere to be found by them or someone else. I found some spells that would change the card slightly by making it keep the soul close to the person who drew it by putting it in a soul stone and I found a spell to put a soul back into the rightful body. If it was on hand.” He said. 

Eye twitching Jade keeps her mouth shut for a good long time. So long that they had reached the shop Dimetrius and Kalabad needed and stayed outside while Crystal went in with the two. While she was outside Crystal told Kalabad that she was starting to explore wearing diapers but she wanted to keep it quiet around Jade. But if he wanted her to, to help him feel better, she would buy a swim diaper herself and wear it the whole time they were on their task.

With a chuckle he says, “If you are serious you pick one out first. And put it on in the dressing room there.” 

Grinning she walks over to the special swim diapers and finding an emerald green one in her size, she takes it to the changing room and after a moment pokes her head out and asks the woman behind the counter for help as she couldn’t figure out how to fasten it properly.

Smiling the woman went into the dressing room and helped Crystal get it on by sitting down behind her and then using the mirror shows her how to feed the laces through the holes for them properly for a very snug fit. And how to tie it so it was easy to remove yet wouldn’t loosen on its own. “Thank you ma’am, I’ll wear it out if that is okay. Also my two friends and I are on a mission from the king he said to mention that for getting any provisions or supplies we would deem necessary.” 

“Alright dear that is fine. I take it you three will need the swim diapers then. Are you all getting the magical ones or are the other two getting normal ones?” 

Sliding her pants up and refastening her top in place in the waist band Crystal says, “Yes ma’am. They will get the ones like this too but in their size and color obviously.” 

Nodding the woman ripped the price tag off the garment before Crystal had it hidden by her pants then went out to the main shop to help the boys pic their swim diapers. Kalabad got a wood brown color while Dimetrius got a blue one that matched his scale colors. Taking the tags she said, “If you need help getting them on say so.” 

“I can do it myself but I’ll help Kalabad. I used to have these when I was younger remember ma’am? Mama brought me in here every summer to get me a new swim diaper as I had outgrown my old one.” Dimetrius said with a giggle as the woman nodded.

“Oh yes I remember you quite well. Especially that one summer when all the diapers we had in your size were pink and your mom wouldn’t take any of your sass and spanked you right her in front of all the girls that were getting their own swim diapers.” She said making him blush really hard and Crystal to hide a smile.

A couple minutes later Dimetrius and Kalabad had their swim diapers on and were dressed again and were walking out with Crystal. 

“Dimetrius I don’t know how to say this without seeming a bit like a bitch so just listen. I don’t know much about these decks but I do know that magic involving the soul is an abomination most of the time. So if you insist on messing with those decks around me you need to agree to this. If you do and that particular card is drawn...and your soul or whoever drew it has their soul replaced, you will be severely punished. I don’t care if you can put the soul back in the body to me and to my god Soul magic is very wrong. Not necessarily evil as we do use it from time to time to cast resurrection spells to those who have proven worthy of it, but unwanted removal of the soul and forceful replacement is dangerous to the person and soul as well.” Jade said coming off the building having been leaning hard against it.

“If I am right in my hypothesis Jade it won’t come to that…but…If it does I agree to let you give me no more than 50 swats with the paddle on my bare bottom. But only if you promise not to be a jerk about the other cards, because I promised to tell you ALL of their effects now didn’t I?” 

“Alright…alright I promise. I may not like it but I won’t, as you put it, be a jerk.” Jade said using some deep breathing exercises to calm herself as they walked down to the market to get some food for the trip.  
“There are twenty two cards in a full deck. Normally only two of them do not regenerate into it once drawn, this can be bypassed by making a superior deck, The jester and the fool are the only two who don’t normally go back in. And you already know what Moon, Sun and now the Void doo. Moon was the wish card and Sun is the one that gave me the power boost and my bag here. And I just told you about the void.” He started. “The others are quite strange so do you want the good cards or bad ones first?” he finished as they got to the produce stand where his dad was sitting smoking his long stem pipe as he held Aquia while Sapphire Wind finished a transaction with a customer.

Taking the money from the customer before he walked off she saw Dimetrius and smiled. “Hello there sweetie are you alright? This must be Miss Jade and young Kalabad?” 

Giving his mom a hug he says, “Hi mama. Yes they are. Jade, Kalabad I would like you to meet my mother Sapphire Wind and my father Drognan.” 

Jade and Kalabad both gave a small bow and say, “hello madam.” 

“I take it you are about to go on another mission aren’t you son.” Drognan said as he blew some smoke rings causing Aquia to giggle and clap before trying to reach up and grab them.

“Yes papa. We’re going to be leaving shortly and were just going about getting some supplies before we did. Did you get a message from the king?” Dimetrius asked holding his hands behind his back sounding a bit subdued.

“Yup. Got it right here actually, it says to send the bill for the four people whom have been tasked by the king to deal with a problem in the middle of the shipping lanes to the treasury. Pick out what you need son and I’ll send the bill up later.” Drognan said pulling a slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and looking it over.

“That’s us papa thanks. You guys pick I’ll help papa by taking Aquia for a change.” Dimetrius said having smelled her messing as his dad had spoken and walked over to pick her up and take her diaper bag to the bathroom nearby.

By the time he had changed his little sister who was a bubbly little squirming thing, which made changing her a hard job as he had trouble getting the diaper fastened around her tail before he could powder and seal the diaper over her front, the others had picked out a full basket worth of fruit and vegetables and were chatting with Drognan and Sapphire Wind. Handing Aquia off to his mother giving her and his baby sister a kiss on the cheek and his father a hug he says, “I wish you luck in the next couple weeks for sales papa, mama. We probably may not be back before the spring solstice.” 

“We understand dear you just be careful and do us proud.” Sapphire wind said kissing him on the head as his father pats him on the back.

“Yes mama.” He said blushing as he and the others walk off. 

“Well let’s see you asked which we wanted to hear first before we got to your parents food stand…I say give us the bad card effects first.” Crystal said once they were out of earshot of them. 

“Err…right I did…sorry I guess I forgot. Anyway the other cards besides the one that are bad are Donjon, Euryale, Flames, The Fool, Idiot, Rogue, Ruin, Skull and Talons. In that order the effects are Imprisonment as though the spell of said name were cast upon you, a reduced ability to resist mental attacks, poisons and disease and dodging things that can be dodged. Instant enmity between some outsider and the person affected that only ends upon one or the other’s death. The fool acts in an opposite sense as the sun but not as strong, however you have to draw another card instead of an item being taken away. Idiot reduces your intelligence by a random amount. Rogue turns one of your friends against you, Ruin causes all wealth and real property you own to disappear. Skull…skull can be dangerous if you are not strong with magic or skill, You are instantly beset upon by a dread wraith and have to kill it on your own. If it kills you your cursed to never be able to be resurrected and if someone tries to help you another one appears at full strength to fight them. Talons makes magical goods to disappear forever.” 

“Those aren’t so bad with the exception of Skull, and Flames do worry me. However losing all your money and valuable goods or even just your magical items can be very dangerous at the wrong time.” Jade said not really mad though the chance of permanent death from Skull did worry her.

“Sheesh that’s rather risky. I assume the good cards are just as powerful then?” Kalabad asked.

“Oh indeed they are. As you already know moon can grant up to 4 wishes and sun gives a power spike and medium wondrous item, I’ll just list the rest of the good cards. Let’s see they were…Comet, The fates, Gem, Jester, Key, Knight, Star, Throne and Vizier. And again in order listed the effects are; Defeat the next monster or group of monsters alone to gain an instant power spike, Avoid any situation you choose once, gain either 25 pieces of jewelry or 50 gems of high quality with the total value of 50,000 gold, gain a small power spike or draw two more cards, Gain a Major magical weapon, the service of a fighter who has some experience, one characteristic about you gets a small boost, Gain a political title a small keep and a boost in your diplomatic abilities, and instantly know the solution to the very next problem you are faced with.” He said as they turned a corner and walked down the huge staircase to the port where a massive ship, almost big enough to be considered a floating city, was docked and flying the flag of the kings guard. 

“What do you mean by a characteristic getting a boost?” Crystal asked.

“Well…like say you were unable to lift a boulder the size of me but you could move it. If you drew the card it could give you the strength you needed to pick it up a little. I can’t really describe it better without it sounding stupid.” He said picking a spot on his chin. 

“That’s alright Dimetrius I think we all get it. But you only described 21 cards dear when we factor in the two we saw and the void which you described earlier, much to my disliking. Why have you not said the twenty-second card?” Jade said as they got to the base of the stairs.

“Oh. Well it’s because I see it as neither good nor evil. It is pure neutral in my opinion. The card is called balance. You know how the gods are of either Good or evil and Lawful and chaotic or neutral in either sense or both?” he said.

“Yes what about it?” the three ask stopping to look at him.

“Well that is true for everything. And with the exception of some things the good evil alignment cannot change right…well Balance, when drawn, changes one or both alignments at random. From what I have read the card tends to try and balance the scales of good and evil in the world though I don’t really understand what it means by that.” he said. 

“Halt this area is off limits.” A guard said as they approached again.

“Hail good man we were sent by the king himself to use this ship in our investigation of the disappearances.” Jade said standing tall. 

“If you are sent by the king show us proof or be off with you.” A second guard who had leveled his spear at Jade said.

Pulling out the amulet in the shape of a wave crest she says, “This amulet and the three my companions carry were made by the Mage Aram who is the Kings closest advisor in magical goods.”

“Very well madam that is all we needed. Welcome aboard The Enterprise. We have all the food drink and services needed to make your stay aboard comfortable while we sail to the spot and have plenty of room in the cargo to hold all the items stolen a hundred times over if you are able to recover them so feel free to bring up anything else you may find that could be of use.” 

“Alright then thank you. Tell the medical bay to be on full alert and ready at a moment’s notice once we arrive there. If you have cannons make sure that those who man them are fast to load and accurate shots. We may need them before the end.” Jade said as she and the others walked up the ramp to get onto the ship deck and lead the group to their quarters.

Once the four and the guards were on the ship the captain who was watching put a tin whistle to his lips and let out a trill on it signaling the crew to get to work and set the ship to sea.

Down in the cabin room that was set up for them Jade sets the basket of food on the beds and says, “So how do you think we need to do this. I’m not very knowledgeable about sea creatures and…well if it wasn’t for this amulet I would be in deep. I can’t swim as well as one my age should be able to.”

“Well I know a few things about sea creatures. The most dangerous ones are sharks and sometimes whales. Sharks are man eating monsters. They can be as small as a lapdog for a noblewoman or as large if not larger than an elephant. Whales are usually gentle but…well…do you have something to draw with? It’s easier to show you guys that way with scale drawing of these things.” Kalabad said in thought.

“I do…um…you don’t mind that it’s just a bunch of color sticks and parchments do you?” Dimetrius said with a small blush having gotten some the day after he and Crystal had gone to his home to check in with his parents. He figured they would let him enjoy regressing a little with her and it had worked.

“No that would be preferable actually.” Kalabad said as Dimetrius dug in his diaper bag of holding for the items. 

Once he found them Dimetrius laid out a large roll of parchment and a dozen sticks of various colors that looked like a combination of wax and charcoal. Picking up the black one Kalabad draws a humanoid figure saying, “This represents the average size of a human and this…” he picked up a blue stick and drew a very childish drawing of a fish with arrow heads for teeth that was five times larger than the human. “Is your average white shark which is most likely what we are going to see out in the deepest areas. And this” he drew a big fish with the grey stick three times as large as the shark. “Is your average whale that we may see in the area were going. Like I said whales are usually gentle but there have been accidents with ships before. They eat fish and stuff like that but rarely attack boats. Sharks…well…they will attack anything and everything that swims just to see if it’s edible.” 

“Why do you call the blue thing a white shark when you used blue?” Jade asked swallowing hard.

“Because on top. Like if you look straight down on one, they are blue green colored and hard to see but underneath they are white…like almost a snow white, the white shark is the most dangerous I have seen. If we see them…aim for the gills and eyes and try your damndest to stay away from the mouth. One bite can take off a limb.” Kalabad said rubbing his hand across a sweaty brow shaking a bit and for the first time since he docked in Sleinad Kcaj felt fear so deep that he actually soaked his swim diaper. Not ten seconds after he wet himself he felt the diaper instantly become dry and mentally made a note to thank Dimetrius when it was done for telling him that he should get one. 

Breathing deep but fast Jade says, “I need some air…” and runs out to the deck of the ship. Once there she leans over the side and loses everything she had eaten that day over the side. Once she was empty and her heaves had ended she put her back to a wall near the middle of the ship while staying out of the way and prayed. Not to restore her clerical powers but just for the strength to face what was waiting for her and her friends. 

“My child you pray and I hear. Your mind is filled with terror great, what makes you more fearful than those who are damned of the pain they face in the nine hells?” Pelor said in the mind of Jade.

On the verge of a breakdown she says, “My lord…You know I am faithful, loyal to the cause of justice. I willingly do your bidding and punish those who deserve it and heal and help those in need. But I…I cannot go into this mission our king has requested of me. Not now knowing what I face. Dragons…Trolls, giants, orcs demons…they do not frighten me as much as what I face in the sea…I need your steely resolve. I can’t face almost certain death at the hands of things I have never seen. I can barely swim in a pool of water.”

“Hush my child. All shall be fine. I cannot protect you from the creatures of the deep but I can give you the courage to face your fear. The sea is not my domain and therefore I cannot command those that dwell in it. My brother Poseidon is the king of the seas and he is not on speaking terms with me since the quakes that destroyed the old civilizations of your world. He will not actively harm my followers but neither will he aid them. I give you now my strength of will and sense of justice to help you on your quest. Listen close to your friend with the fancy hat about what he knows. He will be of great help with what you may face. Should you return I will give you great praise in my court and in the court of the gods, which may lead to another vote for your ascension to our ranks.” 

As his voice faded Jade felt a deep warming feeling filling her every molecule and calmness wash over her as the sea washes over the beach. Hiding her face in her knees Jade let the relief that she felt from Pelor’s blessing wash over her and let it out of her eyes crying into her knees. Dimetrius, having watched from the stairs to the helm where the captain was after having talked with him, waited for her to stop talking then walked over to her and sat down hugging her to tight. Carefully he slipped a pacifier from his pocket and slid it in front of her eyes saying, “dummy for your thoughts?” which got a watery laugh out of her.  
“You are a sweet sweet boy Dimetrius but it’s okay. Don’t waste your pacifiers on me. I wouldn’t use it anyway.” She said sitting up a bit and popping the pacifier into his mouth instead of hers. “I am just scared sweetie. I’ve never seen a fish bigger than the ones we get to eat from the market and hearing about the creatures that were as big as elephants and more so just…and the fact I can barely swim just compounded my anxiety. I needed some air and to beg, though I hate that I had to do so as I always prided myself as strong, brave, woman, Pelor’s help in that I needed some courage boost to do this.” 

“Mama Jade you don’t need to be ashamed to ask for help. I know much of the creatures in the sea, more so than Kalabad maybe and you have a right to be afraid. But as my…my former father used to tell me, the father I lived with when I was on that other planet before I went to school as a sorcerer and started traveling I mean. He used to say to me, “Dimetrius fear only has as much control over you as you allow it to have. Look at the men and women who fight dragons for the kingdom they feel fear down to their bones every second they are fighting but do they succumb to it? No they take that fear, whip its ass and make it their bitch, and they use it to give them more resolve to do what needs doing.”” Dimetrius said continuing to hug her tight.

“You’re right dear. You’re absolutely right I need to take hold of that fear and make it work for me. I mean I have fought demons and dragons, what’s some overgrown fish stick compared to that?” she said giving him a gentle swat on the hip for the swearing but not too hard as he was quoting someone rather than just doing it to do it. 

Despite her gentleness with it the swat still hurt as he was still sore from Crystal’s spanking earlier and he let out a soft whimper at it. “I just talked with the captain he says that it will take two days to get to the spot we need to dive at from here.” He said with a slight lisp as his pacifier was in the way. “Let’s go down to our room and try to relax till then.” 

Shaking her head as she felt a little ill from the bobbing and surging of the ship she says, “You go ahead. I’d rather be up here so I can barf over the side if I need to. The movements are making me I’ll.”  
“Okay…but don’t sleep up here. If you get tired come back inside. The air at sea in the middle of the night is very cold and you won’t want to fall asleep up here.” He said giving her a kiss on the head before going inside to the others. 

Hundreds of miles away and thousands below them in the sunken city…

“So my mistress was right. I have some guests coming who wish to take my pretties away from me which I have rightfully claimed as king of this section of the world. I will have to prepare a welcoming party for them.” A cold calculating voice said as it watched an orb, which had a moving picture of the ship and Jade on it leaning over the side throwing up in it, in the middle of a room of a building that looked like what the history books called a “sky scraper.”


	5. Chapter 5: Down to the Murky Depths We go…or…Davey Jones I Hate Your Locker.

Two days after the party set sail they woke to the sound of the sea waves slapping the ship and nothing more. Kalabad not liking this quickly “sobered up” from his sleep haze and started slapping the others about the face lightly saying, “Wake up. Wake up you idiots something’s off.” 

Hearing the desperation in his voice Jade fighting her churning stomach sits up with a shot saying, “Kalabad what’s wrong? I know we dive down today but…”

“I don’t hear the gulls. If we’re only fifty miles from the port I should still be hearing the damn things get up. Dimetrius, Crystal get up.” He said going over and giving them another slap. 

Sitting up and straining his ears Dimetrius says, “He’s right…whatever else is going on we should at least hear the gulls.” And he jumps out of bed and slips his pants and shirt on over his swim diaper and then looks for his weapons. Seeing the Kunai Crystal had given him stuck in the floor point down he pauses. “Crystal? Were you chucking the Kunai you gave me at the floor after I went to sleep?” 

Looking down she sees them too and as she ties the scabbard to her katana in place she says, “No…It is considered bad luck to play with the weapon of another after they have been given it. Sharpening or repairing them is of course not under this taboo…but I would never play with the weapon of another. Not unless they told me to do something with it.” Her tone was very nervous. 

Suddenly the ship rocked as though hit by something large from below. Snatching up the Kunai and making sure the amulet was tied snugly on him and tucked into his shirt Dimetrius ran topside with Kalabad close behind and was greeted with the view of the cannon hands running to their stations above and below deck to the 84 different cannons on board. Once on deck the two found the first mate who was barking orders to the crewmen and ran to him. “What’s going on?” Kalabad yelled over him as they got close.

“Were being rammed by old white bellies. One of them is bigger’n any whale I ere seen. There look.” He said pointing to a huge fin that was as tall as Dimetrius and as wide front to back as he, Kalabad, Jade and Crystal side by side. “FIRE.” He yelled as the thing turned giving them a full broadside of it as it tried to swim off.

Jade and Crystal having come topside at the order to fire cover their ears as all 40 cannons on the right side of the ship fired at once causing little explosions in the water as they hit and then another large one as the explosive material inside the cannonballs ignited. They then ran over to Kalabad and Dimetrius saying, “What the heck is it.” 

Dimetrius tapping Kalabad on the shoulder indicated for him to explain then took the first mate by the arm and pulled him away. Once he was clear of the three he says, “Canons are not going to hurt it. That thing is too old and enchanted with powerful magic. There are only two things that can destroy her now; Powerful Magical weapons with piercing and slashing abilities, or the skills of another powerful magical creature. Do you know if there are any other sharks down there?” he asked as the thing got out of range of the cannons before turning about. 

“I saw some smaller sharks on the other side. Looked like regular white bellies. What do you plan on doing we have nothing to stop the big’un there.” 

“You leave her to me. Take Jade Kalabad and Crystal and get their help with the ones on the other side give them something useful they can do. I can’t stop her if they try and stop me just tell them I need to concentrate. Don’t worry I’ll be fine.” He said lying going to the ship rail and making it look like he was carving magical runes in the air to cast a powerful spell. 

Not wanting to distract a sorcerer in the middle of a working the first mate yelled. “All cannons on the Starboard side hold your fire. Save the munitions they won’t work on that sea bitch.” 

Looking over at the hollering first mate Jade Kalabad and Crystal saw Dimetrius working with his hands and drawing. Then the first mate ran over saying, “You three come to the port side you can help stop the normal ones over there.” 

Jade looking worried and rightfully so said with a scream at the end, “you don’t think he is going…DIMETRIUS NOOOOOOOOOO.” 

However she was too late as Dimetrius had hopped up onto the railing and then jumped out as hard as he could away from the ship towards the giant shark. Concentrating hard on his draconic blood he forced his hands to shift into a more claw shape with very strong talons in them and he uses them to great advantage as he spears them into the back of the shark causing it to let out a strange sound for a creature of its like as it Roared in pain. Opening his mouth to reveal his sharp teeth Dimetrius started to bite and tear at the creature with them as it dived hard and fast thinking to kill him with the pressure change. 

Back on the deck of the ship Crystal, Kalabad and Jade were looking terrified and ready to be sick. How could someone so intelligent, so kind hearted, who wanted nothing more than to pay for his sins in his past life just up and commit suicide by shark. It made no sense and the second he disappeared from view below the water with the creature itself Jade fainted from the shock. “Crystal can you use your ninjitsu to throw lightning?” Kalabad asked.

Crystal ears ringing as the world was still in slow motion to her blinked and turned to Kalabad as things started to speed up. “W...what?”

“CAN YOU THROW LIGHTNING? DAMNIT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO FUCKING SPACE OUT.” He said slapping her across the face to get her head back together.

“OUCH…yes…yes I can throw up to three bolts in a day. Anymore and I risk using my life force to power it.” She replied catching his hand as it came back for another smack.

“Will it arc to nearby targets in the water yes or no?” he said pulling his hand free.

“I can make it do so but the more targets I choose the less energy I have for another.” She replied.

“How many can you hit with one bolt and still have power to do another? What’s your maximum?” He said.

“I think I can hit up to five in one shot without burning out.” She said still not catching on.

“That’s perfect miss Crystal quick come over here. If you can kill the five over here with one shot we can go down and try to save your friend with the submersible.” The first mate said catching onto the plan. 

Nodding Crystal got up and ran to the port side with the first mate while Kalabad tended to Jade and made sure she didn’t get hurt or fall off the boat. Looking over the layout of the sharks she says, “No…they are too far spread…if only we had something to make them come together…That’s it…Quick get me a large side of raw meat. Not frozen. The bloodier the better.” She said remembering what Kalabad had said about sharks the first night aboard the ship.

Not arguing the first mate ran to the galley which was on the same level as the main deck but under the steering house he yelled inside to have the cooks bring a whole beef side to the port side of the deck. As she waited for them Crystal did her best to focus on her chakra and to build it up as much as she could. 

Once the beef was brought over she said. “Don’t toss it over yet…” and she put her hands on it sending half of her reserves into the side of meat charging it as much as she dared and said, “Okay toss it.” 

Not arguing the cooks did as they were instructed and hurled the beef overboard. As it hit the water the area around it quickly turned red and Crystal watching said, “wait for it…wait for it…RAKURAI.” And at her scream a loud peel of thunder came from under the ship as the meat exploded in a shower of lightning instantly frying all three large and two huge great whites. 

Down below the waves Dimetrius still attached to the gigantic beast stopped in his feast of shark flesh and looked up at the same time his “meal” had turned towards the surface to see the sharks up there sinking and bursting apart as they were electrocuted severely. Realizing that was the only way to kill the beast fast Dimetrius opened his mouth wide and let out a crackling roar firing point blank, directly through the hole he had made, right into the sharks brain with his dragon breath lightning ability. As it had come from him Dimetrius was unaffected by the electrical feedback from being in the water and also being connected to the shark itself by his talons buried deep in its back, unfortunately he wasn’t immune to the explosive force he felt when the sharks head literally exploded and launched him up through the water towards the surface as it too started to fall no longer alive. 

With a hard grunt he felt the force shoot him away and as a result also felt himself load up his swim diaper on both sides before he was able to right himself. Once he had he could feel the magic of the garment clean the mess instantly as well as him thankfully and kept his eyes wide and head on a swivel as he surfaced to be sure of no more surprises. Once he was only fifty feet below the ship he swam out away from it then came up fast and hard at an angle intending to shoot up onto the deck with the speed that the king had told them they would have when not in combat. As he shot out of the water he saw Jade was unconscious on the deck with Kalabad over her trying to wake her and knowing he was going to get it sighed inwardly as he flipped over and landed on his hands and feet in a 3 point stance.

Hearing the hard thud of something hitting the ship deck Kalabad tuned around fast and nearly fainted himself. Crystal having heard it too drew her Katana as she spun round and seeing it was Dimetrius dropped her blade in shock.

Grinning sheepishly Dimetrius said, “I…I don’t suppose you will accept that I had to do it to protect you this time hunh?” 

Walking over to him Crystal poked him once to be sure he was real then faster than anyone could see she slapped him hard. “YOU STUPID BASTARD. YOU STUPID BASTARD HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US.” She screamed in his face as she slapped him a second, third, fourth, five times leaving his face a deep purple color from the bruise blossoming under his scales. 

Covering his face to keep her from slapping it again he cried out. “Because I knew you would all die if I didn’t okay…I didn’t want to lose you three.” 

“You’re going to have to explain that one to all of us boy-o.” the captain said coming down the stairs from the helm as his first mate picked up Crystals sword and walked over to them with the captain. 

“I’m not explaining the last part to you. You don’t have a need to know nor the right. Crystal, Kalabad, and Jade would know the meaning behind it but you don’t have the right to ask that. As for the former I am half-dragon. That much is obvious by my scales and talons. I am also a sorcerer and in training ninja under Crystal. The latter had nothing to do with what I did. As a dragon I can smell magic. It is something all of my kind share though the full blooded ones can identify it in a split second. I can only tell what is magic by the smell. My sorcery knowledge told me what was going on. That shark…the one I went after alone. Was not only magical but it was enhanced by magic. Nothing but magic of a powerful kind would hurt it. Was I lucky my talons and teeth were strong enough to tear into it…yes…but I had the ace up my sleeve I had to be close to use anyway. Dragon breath is more powerful than any magic of any other race on the planet the only thing stronger is the magic of the gods themselves. I however cannot guarantee accuracy with mine unless I am up close. Even a target as big as her was too small to guarantee it unless I was on her back.” Dimetrius said lowering his guard and looking at the captain through a swollen left face and a normal right.  
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth boy?” the first mate said slightly angry but more afraid than that.

“If I had would you have tried to stop me, or tried to make me explain fully first thus causing me to waste time and risk this damn ship being sunk by it? I saw the damage as I was coming up and we wouldn’t have survived more than one more hit. Two hits and you would be sinking right now.” Dimetrius said starting to get angry himself. For the first time since he accepted the chance to redeem himself he was tired of it all, tired of explaining himself, tired of having to feel like a monster because he was different than most people despite dragons being legal citizens of the kingdom. He half wished he had asked more about the races and what were most common so he could have chosen one of them instead. 

“Dimetrius…do me a favor and help Kalabad take Jade to the cabin. We can’t do anything without her with us so you might as well make her comfortable and rest yourself.” Crystal said quietly as she had heard the implied pain he was feeling and sheathed her sword. 

Kalabad looking between the two nodded to himself and helped Dimetrius carry Jade vowing to talk to him once they were in private he was slightly afraid of him but more than that. He respected the power the half-blood dragonling had just displayed. Once jade was on her bed comfortably and Dimetrius had removed his soaking wet clothes to dry on the pipes that kept the room warm Kalabad said, “Dimetrius…I want to ask you some things…if that’s okay.” 

Dimetrius over on the other side of his bed on the floor hugged his knees to his chest ready for a huge stab through the heart so to speak. “Go ahead. You want to ask me why I’m such a freak don’t you. You and all the others think I’m some sort of monster and should be destroyed don’t you. You want to know how to get rid of me in a humane way I know it.” 

Kalabad hearing his pain sat down in front of him and said, “No. I don’t. I would never want to destroy a friend, especially one who is as interesting as you. I can’t deny I’m a little afraid. Wouldn’t you be if I had done what you just had? No…for the first time since we met I realized you are something more than just the sum of your parts. More than a half-dragon, more than a reincarnated sorcerer from another world, you are Dimetrius…my friend. What I wanted to ask is how much do you know about the sea? What do you know that we might be facing? Have you faced off with something more dangerous than that mega white?”  
“I know…I…don’t ask me to tell what I know right now…I don’t want to say it twice and I don’t want to relive it more than once.” He said before breaking down into tears and bawling into his legs. 

Not really sure what he should do Kalabad just slid around to the side of Dimetrius and sat there in silence while the boy cried. He knew how the boy felt in a way as despite having been aboard many ships he was always looked down upon as a nuisance, something in the way and a know-it-all for his knowledge of the sea which he got from books rather than experience. Many a times he had been threatened to be tossed overboard by some of the sailors if he kept “trying to help” when he didn’t know the life style yet

Approximately half an hour went by where Kalabad just sat in silence and Dimetrius cried his heart out into his knees before Crystal came back into the cabin with a cup of a smoking liquid. “Kalabad come over here I need help pouring this down Jade’s throat.” She said.

Staying quiet Kalabad got up and walked over to her giving Dimetrius a pat on the back as he rose and following Crystal’s instructions lifted Jade into a more reclined than flat position and pried her mouth open so she could pour the liquid into her mouth. Moments later Jade’s eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright head pivoting around searching for something and seeing Dimetrius over in his corner knees to face she relaxed then said, “He’s alive…thank Pelor he is alive…please tell me he didn’t do what I think he did…tell me it was just some nightmare.” 

Crystal, putting her left hand on Jades shoulder says, “He did do it, and he has been punished enough.” 

Vibrating with a fury she never felt before Jade did her best to keep calm and says, “So why did he…” 

“He has something to tell us Jade but I’m certain he was waiting for you to wake up. His words were, “don’t ask me to tell what I know right now. I don’t want to say it twice and I don’t want to relive it more than once.” When I asked him what he knew about the sea.” Kalabad said calmly cutting her off. 

“Dimetrius I know you can hear us. Come over here dear and sit in my lap and tell us what you have to say.” Jade said adjusting herself so her back was against the headboard and her legs were straight out in front of her.

Pushing his legs out in front of him Dimetrius rolls onto his stomach and crawls under his bed saying, “No you’re just going to yell at me and smack me too.” It was clear his mind had done a regression again after he had broken down and started crying. 

“Dimetrius I promise I’m not going to slap you and neither will the others. Sweetie come out and sit with me and tell us what you need to say.” Jade said softening her words some more letting the anger leave her as she knew it wouldn’t be useful at all to keep it.

“No…I no wanna see you three. I’m staying put and you can’t make me move.” He said in a way that was preluding a tantrum. 

“Alright then tell us from where you are you don’t have to come out.” Crystal said sitting down on the bed next to Jade as Kalabad sat on his bed stunned at how drastic of a change had occurred in Dimetrius’s mindset. 

Sniffing hard Dimetrius curls up in a ball under the bed and says, “I did what I did because I knew you guys didn’t have the power to fight her. I can smell magic and the runes I was carving in the air were magic identification runes. Only my dragon parts could pierce her protection and her body so I chose to save you all. I not want to lose any of you…I not be able to handle it if you died on me.” he was repeating what he said topside for Jade’s benefit and was silent for a moment before he continued.

“You won’t like this but she was just…she isn’t the worst thing we could face. Back in the other world…I…I was swallowed whole by something. I don’t know what it’s called here but back there we called it an Uroboros Leviathan there was enough room in it that it could have swallowed two of that shark…side by side…I only survived because…because of a magical hat I had that hit it with the right spells.”

“What kind of hat was it?” Kalabad said blanching at the thought of something so massive.

“It was a helm of brilliance. A very pretty steel helmet with a load of diamonds, ruby’s fire opals and regular opals. Each gem activated one of 4 powers. I used a diamond to cast a prismatic spray which hit for all the effects twice over but it resisted the inter-dimensional teleportation and turn to stone effects. I almost killed it and it threw up as the moves hit it sending me and my friend, along with a load of ambergris back into the freezing cold sea water. Then there are Krakens but you guys know about them I guess…if not well…think a squid…but HUGE. I have heard rumors of some breeds of Kraken looking similar to us but instead of a normal head they have the pointy part, from it instead of hair they have the tentacles and arms, a humanoid face and mouth and the rest of the body is human…personally…I would rather deal with that than a regular one.” He said putting his cold hand to his sore left side of his face.

“Are…are those…things…the one you got swallowed by…and…Krakens…can you smell them like you did the giant white?” Jade said nervously.

“Yes…both are very powerful magical creatures so I will be able to smell them…I think…I mean don’t you need air to smell? I didn’t really think of things like that just a bit ago I was more worried about killing the shark than seeing if I still smelled her.” Dimetrius said peeking from under the bed. 

“Alright…we have to go down below anyway and stop whatever is bringing these attacks on our boats…just…is there anything you can promise that will make me more sound in mind about it dear?” Jade said sliding out of the bed and getting up to her feet. 

Coming out completely Dimetrius says, “I can promise two things…I’ll be the first one in the water…and I’ll be the last one to leave it.” He looked at her firmly with his swollen left eye. 

Hissing in sympathy Crystal says as Jade puts her hand up to the eye to heal it, “I’m sorry I hit you so hard little brother. But you did scare us all really bad and Jade probably would have blistered your butt worse than that.” 

Flinching at the touch and letting out a hiss as the swelling began to shrink and heal quickly he says, “I know. But I would still have done it the same way and will do it again if necessary.” 

Once his face was back to normal Jade says, “Alright let’s go then. We have little time to waste now.” and she walks back out to the deck of the ship ready to do what needs to be done even if she was terrified of the stuff below.

Nodding Dimetrius got his clothes back on and stuck his Kunai in the waist band the got up to the deck with Jade and the others who had followed her up to plan. Once there he got up on the rail and said, “Wait till I give the okay to come in after me. Then you can all come in at once.” Then he pushed off hard and swan dived down through the waves and did a quick look around under the surface to make sure they were essentially alone in the water and then came back up. “All clear, come on in the waters nice and brisk.” He said.

Nodding the three leapt over the railing and plunged into the water, gasping as they hit the cold surface and sank under. Diving under after them Dimetirus got their attention with waving his hands and points at their ears and says, “If you can understand this say something yourselves.”

The sound was a little strange but still perfectly clear to them all so Jade says, “How did you do that?” 

Kalabad shocked said, “Okay that is cool.” 

Crystal said, “You’re so getting a tickle torture when this is over with.”

“I guessed there was more to the amulets than the king told us. Because when I was on the big shark she took me down almost to the bottom and I could see like I would if we surfaced and looked around at noon. But that could be part of my heritage from being half blue dragon.” He said calmly letting them get used to the water and breathing it. 

“Alright then just to be safe you go in front. If you know it, use the light spell so we can see if we say so alright?” Jade said starting to relax a bit. Unfortunately for her she was next to Dimetrius and the combination of the water around her and her relaxing caused her bladder to release and he started to giggle hard. 

“What’s so funny lil bro?” Crystal asked raising an eyebrow.

He point’s at Jade giggling and says, “Mama Jade just pottied in the sea. I felt the water warm up around us.” 

Kalabad and Crystal fighting their amusement both say, “Just lead us to the bottom you dork.” 

“Alright I’ll go slow enough for mama to keep up since she can’t swim that well.” he said flipping over and starting a breast stroke towards the bottom at an angle. 

As they swam the four noticed that the amulet was indeed to thank for the sight enhancement. They also noticed many things that many sailors and biologists would have given a limb to see. Pods of whales passed them of various breeds including Blue, Orca, Baleen, and humpback. They also saw various breeds of fish including Tuna, Achilles Tang, Angelfish, Anthias, Clownfish, Luminescent Jellyfish, Manta Ray, Eels, and a few sharks though they all avoided the group like humanoids do those with the plague.

“Wow…you know if it wasn’t for the scare of those damn whites on the surface I would be more awed by the wonders here. Oh look a school of sea turtles.” Crystal said pointing to the right now that she had taken the lead since they knew the amulets gave them sight.

“Oh my, they’re beautiful. Look how gracefully they swim” Jade said awed.

“You know…I half want to dedicate my life to studying the sea when this is over. I mean even without the amulet I can breathe underwater so I could do shallow area studies with no trouble.” Dimetrius said awed by the wonders of the deep. “Hey do you guy’s see that…It looks…that looks like a city that’s depicted in my old story books from when I was a baby.” He added seeing the outline of a couple skyscrapers in the distance as the seafloor came into view. 

“That must be where the stuff is being kept. Be on your guard everyone.” Jade said keeping her head on a swivel. 

As they got closer Dimetrius said, “Hold up…I smell something…powerful and…WHOA.” 

The “WHOA” came as a massive shadow flew past them from their right heading to their left which caused an undertow to spin the group around. When they stopped spinning the four were, for lack of a better term, face to face with the rare breed of Kraken that Dimetrius had described before. And it was quite obvious that this Kraken was a girl and for some reason had what looked like a titanic sized swim diaper on.  
“Hi are you my new playmates that mister fishy man said was coming?” She asked in a voice that, despite her size, sounded very infantile. 

“P…playmates?” Dimetrius said confused.

“Yeah mister fishy man told me four people from the surface world were coming down here to play with me and I should go say hi.” She said. 

Jade realizing they were dealing with a “toddler” rather than a full grown one said, “We are here to do something for the king of our country little one. We don’t have much time to play but if you tell us your name and answer some questions I promise we will play after we finish.” 

The Kraken girl giggled and said, “You can’t pronounce my name cause mommy gave me a really hard one that even she can barely say normally. But I always liked the name Kally. But how did ya know I was a little Kraken.”

Crystal, picking up on what Jade was trying to do, tried to help and says, “Well we kinda guessed. But there were some clues we had that indicated it Kally. You have a very cute voice for one.”  
Dimetrius pitching in says, “And you have a cute swim diaper on like me and my friend Kalabad here.” 

Kally giggling says, “Oh…yeah Mommy doesn’t let me swim without my diapy on acause I no can help but potty sometimes when I swim. Um…I really wanna pway…can we make a game out of your questions?” she asked poking her fingers together and moving her arms and tentacles behind her head and shoulders. 

“Okay that sounds fair you are being so polite and kind I think we could do that. How about these for rules then, for every question you answer for us you can ask one of us a question. If you are a good girl and don’t tell lies, which I always know if someone does so, or try and hide something I will give you a prize of your choice valuing no more than 50 platinum coins from our stores up top.” Jade said kindly. 

“Okay that sounds fun. Here I member that mommy said people from the surface world get cold easily and sometimes can get sick and die if they too cold. There’s a…a crack in da floor here where hot rocks and stuff come out of sometimes but keeps the water nice and warm.” She say turning to reveal a volcanic vent on the sea floor and pat the area gently kicking up silt and a couple of and sharks who took off like a shot afraid of the massive creature. 

Crystal Kalabad and Dimetrius looked nervously at Jade not sure if it was a trap but she nodded kindly and swam over so they followed trusting her. “Okay then Kally you can go first what would you like to ask one or all of us?” Jade said when the four had settled near the vent and started to quickly warm up due to the heat off the vent.

“Um…um…do you know what happened to Gerty? She was a fishy with sharp teeth about…um…this long.” She said holding her hands just far enough apart to be the same size as the shark Dimetrius had killed.  
Swallowing hard Dimetrius said, “I…Made her have to sleep forever because she was being mean and bad and trying to do the same to my friends and our friends on the boat we were on.” 

“Oh good she was a meanie butt and kept trying to eat my dingle dangles.” She said pulling one of her arms around from her head and showing them the several bite chunks taken out of it. “Okay your turn.”  
Hissing in sympathy Jade says, “hmmm…what is your age equivalent to say…a dragon?” 

“I…I no understand the question. Can you splain it better?” she said honestly.

“Well Dragons are set in twelve categories. Each one takes about a thousand years to get to the next for the first 5 but after that it takes around three thousand years to get to the next stage after. wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, young adult, adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm and greatwyrm. Which of those would you fall under dear if you aged like a dragon?” Dimetrius said explaining it for Jade.

“Oh…um…” she started using her fingers and toes to count, “I is thirty thousand years but. Umm…if I aged like one of dem I would just be coming out of wyrmling age.” She said finally before putting her finger to her lips cutely. “I is just a baby girl after all. Okay my turn…umm…okay mister blue blue…you saids you had a swim diapy on too…how come?”

“Oh…well its sort of a long story but to shorten it I am half blue dragon, my mother was a full blue dragon, and when I was little, I aged like a human till just a couple years ago when my dragon side kicked in completely so now I age like them instead so I am considered a wyrmling still but by human standards I’m an adult. Anyway when I was little I caught a sickness that only affects dragons called Dragon pox, I almost died but when I got better I no longer could control when I pottied. I’m not able to control it so I wear diapers all the time.” Dimetrius said blushing hard embarrassed. 

“Oh…I sorry I didn’t mean to make you sad or nufing I just thought you was like some of the other people I hearded of from mister fishy man. You turn.” She said stroking the damaged arm. 

“If you promise to hold still I can try and heal those owies for you dear. In the meantime I have to know. Was it you who’s been sinking the boats on the surface that had magical items in them?” Jade said swimming up to look at the bites closer. 

“Okay I hold still…and mister fishy man said they were toys and I could play with them. Why…did…did I do somefing naughty?” she said going sad at the end.

Taking her hands and placing them on the two worst bites edges Jade concentrated hard and used her most powerful healing spells which caused the bites to fill in with new flesh and cover with fresh skin before she said, “Yes dear it was naughty. The people on those boats died because of it and you were taking things that didn’t belong to you or mister fishy man. But you are not going to be punished because you were tricked by him.” 

“The nine hells she isn’t. Kally I told you many times not to go near that sunken city or to talk to that man. You get over here right now.” A very mature and quite angry female voice said as a larger form came swimming over from the south. 

“Mommy…I sorry mommy please I didn’t know he was that bad.” She said as the much larger Kraken came into view. 

“That is not going to fly this time miss. I told you time and again not to talk to him because I KNOW he is a bad person and now I hear you killed humans by doing something he told you to do.” She said sitting on top of the hill and pulling the young kraken across her lap pulling down her diaper.

“Mommy please, no spanking I’m sorry I’m sorry. Not in front of my new friends.” She pleaded before bursting into tears as her mother used her tentacles on her head to spank her.

“Yes you are getting a spanking that you need and in front of your new friends. You have been a very bad girl and will learn to listen to your mother.” She scolded as her tentacles snapped back and forth across her daughter’s bared backside. Looking down at the four she says, “I apologize greatly for my daughter’s inappropriate behavior you four. If there is anything you want of me to help compensate for her behavior just name it. Though I won’t be able to help you fight the man she listened to.” 

Thinking for a moment Jade says as she flinches with every stroke that sounded louder than it was due to the water, “Can you tell us why you can’t help or anything about him that would be of use to us in our task to bring him to justice?” 

“That I can dear, the person she listened to is a master of those who live in the sea. He can command any who do not have the strength of will to resist, to do his bidding and his magic is powerful enough to hurt even the oldest and most powerful of my kind. One moment I’ll switch us to mind speech and cancel the sound around you so your ears won’t be damaged from Kally’s cries or the sound of her spanking.” She said with a blink before everything went silent as a grave. 

“There that’s better. Now where was I…oh yes his power is not only over sea life and the forces of magic but he also has great physical combat skills. So you need to be careful if you truly intend to stop him.” She said giving her daughter ten more strokes using all of her tentacles each time. After the tenth stroke she pulled her daughters swim diaper back up and sat her on her bottom facing away from the city and the group.

“Thank you ma’am I am grateful that you were kind enough to tell us. Is there some way for us to contact you after we are done? I ask because I am a woman of my word and I promised Kally there a present if she was a good girl and told no lies or hid anything from us when we asked her questions.” 

With a sigh her mother says, “I am very upset with her and normally would take away all treats for disobeying me so blatantly but as one of the values I try to instill in my children is to always keep your word I guess I can tell you. It is hard to do so though as we don’t really live in your world. We live in the elemental plane of water which is similar to this world but much larger in size so as to accommodate creatures like us. To contact me take this conch and blow it six times while in this region of your world as we need room for our portals to open to allow us through. You can do it from the surface but being in the water will be more effective.” She then handed a giant conch almost as big as Dimetrius’s head to Jade.

“Thank you ma’am, and I agree on the value you try to get your young to learn. I am much the same with the children I take care of. Amongst keeping their words I try to get them to be honest all the time and to learn many other lessons. The honesty is easy for me as I can always tell when someone lies to me.” Jade said taking the conch. 

“Yes I know of the skill of knowing lies. It is a great skill to have as a mother. Now if you will excuse us I need to get Kally home so she can have a talk with her father.” She said standing up before picking her daughter up under her arm around the waist.

“Yes we must be off as well to deal with the one that has caused your daughter to be in need of discipline. We shall be in touch later in the month once I have had her gift made.” Jade said kindly waving her off.  
After the Kraken and her daughter disappeared through a shimmering portal and it had closed behind them the sound returned to normal and Dimetrius lets out a sigh of relief and starts shaking. “I thought she was going to hurt us too…I…I know that if she had wanted to we would be in a lot of pain…I couldn’t fight something like that even with my magic…I feel sorry for Kally though…such a sweet girl. But she did disobey her mother didn’t she…My own fanny knows better than to disobey my mother so…” 

“Yes she was naughty and deserved her spanking for what she did. I’m glad her mother was so…well… mother like in this situation…I think she only was that way with us though because we were being nice and kind to her daughter and treating her like a child rather than a monster and attacking her.” Crystal said rubbing her backside in sympathy pain for the girl.

“Right you heard her the creature in this city that is doing all this is powerful I doubt he is anywhere near this side and is probably somewhere deep in there but we should search each building first to see if there is anything we can use or any clue as to how to defeat him and get our cargo back.” Jade said.

“I agree. Let’s start with that large one first.” Dimetrius said. “I can smell magic in there but not anywhere near the level I did when Kally appeared. It’s also…I smell multiple sources of magic in there. It might be the stolen items.” He added after taking a big sniff.

Nodding Kalabad says, “Lead on then you’re sniffer is the only thing leading us around here.” 

Swimming into the building’s only opening which was a large hole in the side near the bottom the three look around and see an opening above them going to it they were shocked to find that despite being at the bottom of the ocean they were in a building that had a large pocket of air inside. The only water being where they were at which lead to the floor around them and safe dry area. “Whoa this is weird. You would think the place would be completely filled after all these centuries.” Dimetrius said in a whisper not sure why he was doing so but very sure it was necessary.

“Yeah but if there is a source of something to cause oxygen to stay in production or gasses at least to stay in here you could have this pocket forever so long as the building didn’t move.” Crystal said climbing out on to the floor before turning round to help the others out. 

Once they were all on dry land and had a small camp set up with some sun rods to use for heat, and light, Dimetrius says, “Alright…I’m going to creep up those steps and take a look around. I promise not to go higher than the top step without you okay.” 

“Fine but you be careful little brother. No heroics this time and no trying to solve and dilemma without our input.” Crystal whispered as she sat down near the rods to warm up. 

Nodding Dimetrius agreed and carefully went up the stairs peeking over the top step and then around the corner of the solid banister that was there to see what the source of the magic he smelled was. In one corner was a chest that was glowing a bright yellow color. Licking his lips at the thought of treasure inside he looked around the rest of the room and froze. In front of his eyes were the head and face of a very large black dragon and before he could warn the others it said with a very feminine voice. “Come into my parlor guests from the surface world I promise you safe passage for now so as to speak with me.” Then she shifted into her human form which like Dimetrius was covered head to toe in scales but unlike him she had her tail and wings as well as a rather lovely figure which was not wasted on the boy. 

Rushing up the steps Jade says, “Dimetrius what did you do?”

“Come now ma’am he has done no wrong I heard your whisperings when you discussed his coming up and smelled him and some of your items coming well before you even saw this lovely city. Come I shall serve you some tea and we can discuss matters at hand.” She said slipping on a black silk robe before the others emerged from the stairs. 

Nervous as all sin Dimetrius held his hands in front of his crotch trying to hide that she had “peaked his interest” somewhat and stepped up onto the floor walking ahead of his friends before bowing to her and starting the dance of manners that was draconian diplomacy.

Replying in kind the woman says after a moment, “Normally I would insist on the full dance of manners that is our ways young one but as we are in the presence of non-dragons, and I am very out of practice, shall we agree to dismiss the proprieties of our culture for now and speak as we normally would and so that all may understand us?”

“Uh…As you wish ma’am. You are clearly much…umm…well you are my senior in our culture so you are at privilege to dictate the rules of engagement here.” He said blushing as even in dragon culture it was rude to say the word OLD and he couldn’t think of a better way to say it.

“Alright then dear. Please you four have a seat on my sofa. It is quite comfortable. How do you want your tea? With or without lemon, honey or sugar?” she said throwing them all off their game.

“Err…I prefer mine with a small drop of honey.” Dimetrius said walking over to the couch and nodding fast at the others saying silently, “Just answer and drink you don’t want to anger her.” 

“Straight for me ma’am.” Jade said kindly

“Lemon and honey please.” Crystal replied. 

“Two scoops of sugar if you don’t mind ma’am.” Kalabad said. 

Nodding the dragoness pulled a large metal pot off a stove and poured water into each of the cups before adding the preferred ingredients and using all three on hers and came over to sit in the chair across from the group. Setting down the tray she passed out the cups and says, “So what brings the four of you down here? You must admit that this is a very out of the way place for surface dwellers to come to for no reason other than to see things.” 

“Well…I guess you can say we are here to set right what has been so wrong in this part of the world. Something down here is attacking all the shipping boats that pass over this city and we are tasked to stop it.” Dimetrius said stirring his tea with his claw much like the dragoness was. 

“Ah yes that man has been causing some great trouble down here. Before he came I would babysit that lovely girl you met outside the city but her mother, as you can justly have seen, didn’t want her near this city or him. Unfortunately youngling neither you nor your friends stand a chance against him as you are now. You need some weapons and items that will help balance the scales between you.” She replied before taking a sip.

“We figured as much but how can we acquire such items? We can’t break into the crates if we find them and use those because we were charged with their safe and complete return.” Kalabad said boldly causing her to look at him and smile seductively. 

“Well that is a conundrum isn’t it? Or it would be if I didn’t have some items here and know of others in this city that you could try and claim. But, as with all trade there is a cost to my items and information.” She said eyes going back to Dimetrius as she sipped her tea. 

Jade having drank most of hers already says, “What would the cost be? We don’t have much treasure to exchange for the items nor do we know how much they would cost so we can’t rightly give you money without knowing can we?” 

“Jade is right ma’am it is sort of unfair to ask us to pay a price without even telling us what it is.” Dimetrius said bowing at the waist in submission and respect.

“I want neither money nor treasure in exchange for my goods. What I require is of a more…substantial value to me personally.” She said. Getting to her feet, “However, you are right. You should at least see what is on the table should you choose to pay my price.” And she walked over to the large chest and opened it reaching inside she pulled out four small objects that fit in her palm easily and three swords. Laying the blades on the table she moved the tea service with her tail like she had done it a million times before and puts four large rings down as well. 

Seeing the items Dimetrius rubbed his nose vigorously and aimed his head away from everyone when he sneezed and caused a bolt of lightning to shoot from his mouth. “Excuse me. I normally don’t have that happen anymore but…this is a great deal of magic right here ma’am. Please…what are they? “ 

“Ah so you can tell magic is present but not what. I haven’t seen a half-bred in over ten centuries so it’s been a while for my knowledge of you. yes these are powerful magic the black sword is a sword of life stealing. Its power is to steal the health of the struck target and heal the wounds and fatigue of the wielder. The greatsword is a Frost Brand sword. In climates of 0 Fahrenheit or below it glows with a blue light that cannot be hidden. It also protects the wielder from flame and instantly kills all non-magical fires around it, and if given a command can attempt to douse magical flame as well. Finally she deals cold damage to those she strikes. The long sword her with its four ruby’s in the hilt is a ungodly luck blade. It has a maximum charge of four wishes but each wish takes four weeks to restore to the blade. In essence you have infinite wishes as though you were enslaving a Genie.” She said seeing the lustful look on Dimetrius and Kalabad’s faces.

“What are those then?” Jade asked kindly pointing at the rings.

“OH those are something really special. They are Rings of elemental command. Four rings four elements. Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.” She said causing all four to look up in shock.

“Ma’am there…there is no way we could afford these…the luck blade alone would bankrupt the kingdom.” Dimetrius said after a bit in a sad voice as he really wanted at least one of the items. 

“Dear I told you already that I don’t want money or treasure. What I want is…”


	6. Chapter 6: Who Is The True Master Of The Sea???

“You’re joking right? You really expect me to just let you take one of these two boys into your bed just to get some magic items that MIGHT help us on our quest?” Jade said looking stunned at the dragoness.

“I know it will be hard for you to understand but yes. You see…how can I explain this… My family line has a sort of…curse on us. We can only bear up to two children at a time and we only ovulate once every millennium. If I do not conceive a child now, I have to wait another thousand years before I can try again. I have been so lonely down here in my kingdom and I cannot return to the nesting grounds of my ancestors.” She said looking hurt but hopeful. 

“May I ask why you cannot go back dear lady?” Dimetrius said feeling sorry for her.

“My family was banished from the nesting grounds shortly after I was born thanks to my stupid great grandfather. I don’t want to go into why but it is also how the curse came upon us. Further punishment for his actions.” She said. 

Jade looked over at Dimetrius and Kalabad concerned then she saw the luck blade and said, “Wait…why haven’t you used the wishes of the sword to remedy this? I mean can’t a wish from the same power level of a genie give you what you want?” 

“Mama Jade you obviously don’t know about the laws of conjuration magic in regards to Dragons. We, more the full blooded than myself, are heavily immune to conjuration spells and stuff that would create living things in or for us always fail. It’s the same principle of altering a dragon’s makeup with magic of conjuration. That’s why that Genie had to give me an amulet instead of changing my make up to allow me to have the full power breath of my mother’s kind.” Dimetrius said kindly.

“That’s it exactly. We can’t be affected by things like that…I would have used it a thousand times over and have a huge clan by now if I could have.” The woman said nodding at Dimetrius.

Nodding in understanding Crystal says, “If there were another way I would prefer it to be that. But if you promise to let them choose and not force one or the other to do it…and if you promise to do right by your child and by my friends who volunteer I personally will not stop them. I may not like it but that is not the point.” 

With a sigh Jade says, “I agree with what Crystal said. It has to be their choice and you have to do right by the child and the father of said child.” 

“I’m not really comfortable here…I’m just going to go downstairs if that’s okay.” Kalabad said getting up and walking off sweating heavily trying not to show how much the thought of mating with a dragon disturbed him because of the breath attacks alone that could happen. 

“If I agree…can my friends take the item’s downstairs and divide them up while we…work?” Dimetrius said nervously. “And is there a way to keep them from hearing anything we’re doing so it’s less awkward for them?” he added.

“Yes and yes dear. The moment your friends are down below they need just splash the water to let me know and I can seal the room with magic to prevent sound from coming in or escaping.” She said looking Dimetrius over. 

“Alright then, mama Jade…Crystal…go on ahead…take the stuff and I’ll be down as soon as may be. We need these items and there is no faster, safer way to take on the creature. Even now I can smell his power and it is great.” Dimetrius said putting his cup of tea down before picking up the items to hand to the two.

Crystal taking the swords says, “You’re sure you want to do this? We can find another way if you want.”

“It’s okay big sis…I would have preferred my first time be with someone I love but if it can help out everyone and make all of us happy I will do it. She doesn’t ask us this to be evil, she asks because her heart has a large hole and a child is all that can fill it.” He said patting her back after dropping the rings into Jades hand. “Go ahead and pick who gets what sword but I want the Earth Ring if nobody else does.” He added pushing them both lightly towards the stairs.

Nodding the two walk out of the room feeling horrible for letting Dimetrius do this but accept his decision and once down below they splash the water just enough to be heard. After putting the magical barrier up the dragoness says, “Are you really untouched? If so then I will be as gentle as possible. If you feel uncomfortable at all just say so and we can stop. I’ll let you keep the items regardless but only if you try to help me. Do we have a deal?” 

Nodding Dimetrius says, “I am, and yes we do however I have something to tell you before we try…It is a long story as to how and why but I am a follower of Boccob first and Bahamut second. I am however being punished by my lord and I am not in control of my continence and am forbidden to change or remove my diapers on my own…If we do this you have to take it off me like you would your baby we are trying to give you…Is that going to be a problem?”

She smiles sweetly at him and lifts him up under his legs and back taking him over to the bed and says, “Actually I think it is cute that you are diapered and I like cute boys in their padding. I think we can find a way to keep you in it without angering your god further.” She then placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Blushing at being called cute Dimetrius let her dictate the pace at which they went and when she kissed him he felt a warmth run through him as his body reacted to the kiss. Kissing her back he slid his tongue into her mouth tasting her as she tasted him making the kiss deeper and more sensual. Taking his hands in hers she helped him untie her robe and then to slide it off her, letting him caress every inch of her shoulders down her sides, slowing down as his hands caressed her ample chest. Slowly she lowered his hands down to her stomach, then over her thighs and around back to her butt saying, “Feel every inch dear. You can explore my body as fast or slow as you choose to.”

Nodding Dimetrius slowly slid his hands back up her staying on her back and when he came to her wings he gently stroked the webbing sending a shudder through her body of pleasure and causing her to moisten down between her thighs and says, “oh my…for an untouched boy you know how to tease a girl.” 

He smiled at this and says, “I may not have committed the act myself yet but I have learned well on how to massage a person and how to read their energy for what would feel best to them. Do you want me to…what’s the word the books said…um…oh yeah…do you want me to make you climax before I start for real? The books say it helps with the actual mating sometimes if the female climaxes at least once before insertion.” He was nerding out on her which normally would kill a mood but she smiled at him.

“Cute, educated, and I can tell you are well endowed. But no you don’t have to. I have one spell that will ensure your seed makes it into my egg or eggs that have been released. However the least I can do apart from giving you those items is to let you enjoy it as well. So if you want me to I will show you the female’s side of preparing her mate.” She said laying down on him and rubbing him through his pants and diaper.

“I…I would like that very much.” Dimetrius moaned as he felt himself being pressed tight to his own body due to the diaper restricting him.

Unfastening the sash that kept his pants up the dragoness slowly slid his pants off enjoying the view of his body as she did so. Once they were off she slid her hand down the front of his swim diaper and felt just how eager and ready his body was. “Oh my, your mother must be proud of the craftsmanship she had when she made you.” and she pulled him out of the diaper revealing his glory to them both.

Blushing hard Dimetrius hid his face and said, “it’s…it’s not as big as a lady like you deserves.”

“It is plenty big my dear and you should be proud of it. Such a beautiful thing for a youngling like yourself to be gifted with.” She said before stroking him gently and starting with oral manipulation. 

Moaning in pleasure Dimetrius stuffed his hand into his mouth to keep from being too loud and to help him hold off as long as possible. He may be a virgin in the normal sense but he, like all other boys who grow up, has learned all about erotic art and self-stimulation. That was not even in the same league as the pleasure he felt now. 

As she stroked his member with her right hand the dragoness started slowly by licking the tip of him and then down to his base before she proceeded to suck him pushing more of him into her mouth each stroke until she had all of his member in her a quarter of which was down her throat after taking all of him into her mouth three times he cries, “I’m sorry lady,” as his member erupts in a flood of his seed. Swallowing hard and fast she slides him slowly out of her mouth and when she was done she smiles and says, “Oh yes. I don’t know if you knew this of our kind but a female dragon can always tell how strong her young will become based on the taste and how heavily the one they just pleasured by mouth came. You will give me strong children and the woman you choose to take as your bride will be lucky indeed.” Then she started pumping her hand up and down his length again to get him nice and hard.

Moaning in pleasure again he says, “I…I didn’t know that. But thank you so much…please…may I give you what you requested of me now.”

“If you are ready to do so then we shall. Do you want me to be in charge or would you like to try doing it without coaching and instruction?” she said as her left hand found its way to her lower lips and proceeded to pleasure herself while she prepped him with her right.

“I am you student in this matter lady. Do as you see fit and I will try to learn from my experience.” He replied causing her to smile and put him onto the bed fully before straddling him with her ready and throbbing slit right over his member.

“Alright then slow I shall go. I know that for boys who are virgin it is sometimes painful at first as well so try to hold on till we have you all the way inside.” She said lowering herself onto him slowly to keep from hurting him.

“Oh gods…it’s so hot…so tight…and yet….and yet…”he whimpered as while it did hurt it was the kind of hurt that was almost ecstasy in pleasure as well.

“And yet you feel like it was made to hold you in its warm embrace. Ooooh.” She said for him as she reached his base and felt him bump her cervix. Slowly she started to rise off him and then come back down before taking his hands and placing them on her breasts helping him to massage them as she rose and fell on his “sword.” 

“It feels better than what you did with your throat…please tell me you feel just as good as I do lady.” He said hazily as he concentrated on doing what she wanted him to with his hands so hers would be free.

“It does feel good to me to dear. I haven’t had this pleasure in so long that I can feel a climax coming just from this short time…that is good though.” She said as she started massaging his chest as well before her slit burst with her orgasm over him. Despite her climax she kept rising and falling picking up speed every now and then to increase her and his pleasure. Every time she came down on him she would feel him hit her cervix and she would let out a soft, “oh,” As she had always liked that feeling. Leaning forward she wrapped her arms around him and kept bucking her hips. “I’m going to roll back so you are on top you start thrusting with your hips in and out just like I had been.” Then she made good and put him over her so they were in the missionary position and he did as he was told and proceeded to buck his hips back and forth into her hands on either side of her body to keep him upright.

As he started to thrust in and out of her the dragoness started to let out a low continuous moan of pleasure as at this angle he was thrusting at rubbed him long and hard across her g-spot slowly she felt the orgasm well up inside her again. “I’ll hold off as long as I can sweet one but I want you to go when I do. Come with me dear come with me. When you feel it going to happen thrust as hard as you can against my cervix and hold it there.” She said starting to buck her back up and down with his movements to help bring him closer quicker.

Bending over her he keeps thrusting in and out at a speed unheard of in a mortal creature and he began to suck on one of her breasts and smiled as he found she did have milk and proceeded to nurse from her making her scream out in pleasure as he did. After another minute he slams himself hard and holds his body firmly in her as he screams his orgasm to the ceiling with her screaming her own. Once he finished blowing his seed into her womb as best as he could he collapses on top of her panting. Smiling she draws a few runes in the air and then touches her clitoris and lower abdomen moaning as she did both causing the runes to float down to her and activate their power. Once she was done she hugged Dimetrius and kisses his lips, “You have made me into a very happy mother Dimetrius. If you wish to have some parental power of the children I would be happy to grant them. You can come down here as often as you choose to visit your children.”

“You’re certain you will be with child then from this one mating…You don’t need me to send another load in?” He said gasping still not having pulled his member out of her. 

“Yes you did a good job dear youngling and I can feel much of your seed in my womb. The ova there are going to be most definitely fertilized. We can just lay here and snuggle until you recover your energy and can pull out of me. However if you would rather I pull you out myself and tuck you into your diaper before we snuggle then I can do that too.” She said striking his head. 

“I can do it.” He said slowly moving back up onto his hands and backing himself up a bit until his rapidly deflating rod popped out of her. Once he was free he wiped his spunk off on his hand and then tucked himself down into his diaper with the other. Laying back down next to her he says, “I have some left over that I wiped off if you want it.” 

She smiled and pulled his hand to her mouth and licked the seed on it off saying, “Thank you. It was just as tasty as when I had a full load from you.” 

Blushing Dimetrius rested his head against her breasts and “purred” in content. “Can I ask a small favor?” he asked hugging her as she lay there petting his back.

“You may but I’m not promising anything.” She said with a giggle.

“I noticed when I nursed your milk that I was able to recover some energy and pick up speed allowing me to make you orgasm as I did…can…can I try nursing from you again to see if it helps me recover so I can get back to my friends and our task at hand? Please.” He said looking up at her.

Rolling onto her side she pulls him closer and says, “You did more than enough to earn your items so you can nurse if you think it will restore you.” 

Smiling he latches onto her breast and starts nursing from her drinking until he felt full. With each swallow he felt his energy restore itself and by the time he was full he felt better than he had before. Detaching from her he kisses her on the cheek. “Thank you lady, I do have one last request. It seems silly that I keep calling you lady, ma’am and the like after what we just did. Might I have your name beautiful one?” 

“You may young Dimetrius. My name is Onyxsong.” She said before removing the enchantment on the room that prevented his friends from hearing. 

Getting his pants back on and tying his sash Dimetrius smiles at her and says, “Send word to me at my parents’ farm outside the capital when our little ones are born. I would like to see them at the least one time before they grow up.” He then waved goodbye and tucked his kunai back into his sash and went downstairs.

When he got to the main room the others look up at him and Jade says, “Are you alright?”

“Yes mama Jade I am fine. Might I inquire who gets what out of the items?” he said smiling.

“Well you get to have the earth ring like you wanted. I will have air, Kalabad wanted water and Jade is getting fire.” Crystal said. “Oh and we all agreed. Since you were so brave in volunteering to do this that you should get first pick of the weapons.” She added sliding the ring onto his right ring finger and ruffling his hair.

“Really…no argument I just get to pick any of the three swords?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Really dear, we agreed you took a great risk doing this and you deserve to choose.” Jade said. 

“Alright…I choose…That we all share the wish blade. We each get one wish every four weeks maximum.” He said still not feeling he deserved any real huge rewards yet he felt he owed at least three more huge sacrifices to balance the scales before he could start collecting treasure.

“I told you he would do that.” Kalabad said smiling at Dimetrius who couldn’t help but smile a little back.

“I do have a wish I can think of right now that I would like to make if you three don’t mind it happening and being ready to assist me if needed.” Dimetrius said blushing a bit. 

“What do you mean sweetie?” Jade said confused. 

“Well…I don’t know how my body will react but…I know exactly what I want to wish for and if it works it will help us greatly. But before I do it, let’s finish dividing up the other two weapons and find another building so we are not intruding on Onyxsong’s hospitality much longer.” 

“Alright then we couldn’t really decide who should get to pick second and third so how do you think we should do it?” Crystal asked him.

“Oh that’s easy. Play parchment, stone, knife to choose.” He said smiling though it faltered when they all looked at him confused.

“Seriously…none of you have ever played it before?” he asked and they all shook their heads causing him to giggle like a toddler who just learned he knew something that his elders or big brother or sister didn’t know.

“Ok I’ll show you it’s very simple there are three hand signs, Parchment is you hold your hand palm down flat like this, Stone you make a fist, and Knife you make a fist with your index finger extended.” He said showing them all three signs. “Now Stone wins against knife, knife against parchment and parchment beats stone. Or as the game calls it; stone smashes knife, knife cuts parchment and parchment covers stone. Now to play all members bob their hands three times and then on the fourth time they all show a symbol they chose in their head. Like so.” He continued showing them how to bob the hand properly and throw out the choice.

“So what happens in the even that we each choose a different one and in the event that one of us chooses one symbol but the other two chose a different one from them but the same as each other?” Kalabad asked.

“In a triad standoff you just re-throw. But if you chose say knife and they both chose parchment you would win the first slot and then they would have to face off in a one on one showdown to see who gets second.” Dimetrius said smiling.

“Sounds easy enough, let’s give it a try?” Crystal said turning to the other two. 

Smiling Dimetrius says, “I’ll help by doing the count on the bobs so you all keep tempo with each other. Ready? One, two, three, show.” He said once they were set facing each other hands in the middle. All three of them had chosen knife so Dimetrius counted again and after three minutes of doing this the choices went to Jade and Crystal causing Kalabad to give a playful raspberry to them. 

“I’ll take Frost Brand.” Jade said picking up the greatsword leaving Crystal with the Sword of Life stealing. Handing it to Dimetrius she says, “Until you can protect yourself better in melee combat with agility and dodging skills you can borrow this to keep yourself healed up.” 

Sticking out his tongue he replies, “If the wish works like I think it will there will be no need for it. But thank you big sis. Let’s go now. I think that large two story building next door might have a suitable place for us to camp.” He then jumped hard and dove headfirst into the pool of water taking the lead so they could be safe.

As they swam towards the next building they could tell by looking up that despite being on the ocean floor they could see little specks of light far, far above them which indicated that it was indeed after dark. Emerging into a small room about ten feet wide with a door in the north wall Dimetrius helped Crystal Jade and Kalabad out of the pool and let Crystal inspect the bigger room on the other side of the door before they moved in. As she did Kalabad noticed a chest in the south east corner of the smaller room and inspected it saying, “I don’t see any traps. Want me to try and open it mama Jade?” then he blushed realizing that he had called her mama like Dimetrius did which made her smile.

“Okay dear but you be careful just because you don’t see a trap doesn’t mean there isn’t one.” She said 

“At the very least there is no magical trap but I do smell something magical inside it.” Dimetrius said grinning that Kalabad was starting to get used to being padded up and starting to feel comfortable calling people who cared for his needs mama or papa like he did when he wanted to fell cared for.

By the time he got the lock picked Crystal had returned and was carrying eight bottles that looked like the ones they found in Goblin City. “Hey there’s two more of those in here as well.” Kalabad said pulling out the bottles.

Taking one from each of them Dimetrius uncorked them and sniffed carefully. “It’s the same stuff…they must have been very sickly back in those days to need so many of these rejuvenation potions laying around.”

“I guess so. The other room is safe but there is a door in the east wall I haven’t gone through. We can set up some traps on it and this door if you want to camp for the night.” Crystal said as Jade took the potions and stuffed them into her bag of holding she was carrying.

“Uh…mama Jade? You didn’t have all those diapers in there this time did you?” Dimetrius asked.

“Actually dear I did you don’t want to switch to a regular one for the night since were camping here do you?” she said kindly looking up at him.

“Well…I sort of thought that…well we’ve been underwater all day…wouldn’t the water have gotten inside and ruined all those diapers?” He said blushing.

Smiling she pulled out a thick pink one and showed it to him. “Dry as a bone dear. I may not be an expert on most magical items like you are sweetie but I do know my bag. Unless I actually open it up nothing can go in or out of it.” She said putting the diaper back in the bag before sealing it shut with all the potions safely inside.

“Oh…I didn’t know it would work that way or I would have brought my bag with us off the ship. It has my preferred style and brand in it and…and my paci.” He said poking his fingers together.

“Alright then let’s get camp set up. Since we would be hard put to find dry wood or anything to burn properly we’ll use my last five sun rods as a campfire.” Jade said standing up and leading them into the other room and setting up in the corner closest to the door they came through but farther from the other door. Nodding the other three follow and after Crystal came in she shut the door behind her and set up a powerful and non-lethal trap on it and the other door just in case the intruders were not aggressive.

Once Jade had the sun rods cracked and set up to work she opened her bag again and laid out four bedrolls from it. “Alright then Kalabad are you sure you want to go through with what you said last night before we went to bed?” 

“Yes ma’am. I said you could treat me like you do Dimetrius so long as you didn’t go spank happy if I mess up or break one of your rules while we’re adventuring together. Not saying you can’t spank me just don’t overuse it.” He said blushing.

“Alright then dear the new rule for when were camped is everyone who is diapered has to go without pants while were camped so I can easily and quickly check if you need a changing.” Jade said firmly.

Dimetrius giggling says, “okay mama.” And starts undoing his sash and pulls down his pants and slides out of them leaving his swim diaper exposed as he laid his pants near the sun rods to dry he also went one step further and took off his robeshirt as well and laid it near the pants. Kalabad blushing did the same with his shirt and pants and then laid his hat down as well. Crystal still working on the trap barely flinched and flat out refused to go without her pants even if she was in a swim diaper. The main reason she had worn the thing in the first place was to make Kalabad feel better about being in one and she didn’t want to have it flashed about, even if she was starting to like the feel of a diaper on her body. 

“Alright you two let’s get you out of those things and into a nice thick dry diaper for bed.” Jade said pulling out two thick diapers. One brown one blue which matched the swim diapers the boys had on, as well as getting out powder, wipes, and diaper rash cream.

Waving Kalabad forward Dimetrius let him go first as he was most embarrassed by it still and after Jade untied the swim diaper she quickly wiped him down despite the diaper having been magical and cleaning him when he had wet earlier during the swim down to the ocean floor. Putting his legs on her shoulder she lifts him up and moves it away then unfolds the clean diaper and slides it under him before applying rash cream and powder to his butt and laying him down to repeat the process on his front and genitals. After he was properly coated with both she folds the diaper up snugly between his legs and fastens it shut then gives the front a gentle patting before letting him move away so Dimetrius could take his turn.

As she worked on him she says, “This is weird…You’re fully incontinent and yet you are clean and dry. I expected at least a little bit of pee on you just like I did with Kalabad …why are you both clean and dry?” 

“Oh…well we got the special magic swim diapers from the shop that instantly clean themselves and the wearer when they finish going potty.” Dimetrius said blushing and poking his fingers together.

Wiping him down anyway and repeating the process she had with Kalabad Jade says, “I see. Well that makes sense then.” Once she finished she rolls him over and gives him a gentle swat on the bottom making him giggle and crawl over to his bedroll and sit there.

After she cleaned up the mess and tossed the wipes into a plastic bag she set the lot aside and then got out some food that would cook on the sun rods and prepares dinner.

“Alright traps are set and were as safe as we can possibly be. You want to make that wish now crinkle butt?” Crystal said sitting down next to Dimetrius and pulling him into her lap.

“I do sis.” He said picking up the sword and holding it tight he says, “I wish that I had the skill, knowledge, spells and power over sorcery I had in my first life.”

Hearing this the three look shocked at him thinking he was wishing for everything he had including the corruption and demon skin. With a bright flash Dimetrius was picked up in the air as magical lights flew into and out of his body then he was lowered down gently back into Crystals lap.

“Dimetrius what the hell did you just do…I thought you wanted nothing to do with the corruption and your evil ways.” Jade and Crystal said at the same time. 

“I’m not corrupted mama, sis. I only wished for my magic from that life. Meaning just the spells and the ability to cast them again as I did before. Oh no…oh no no no…I just remembered. While I was mostly filled with good spells I…I did have three that were considered evil…he said covering his face starting to sob.

“What are they little brother? Depending on what you relearned depends on how we decide to punish you for being reckless with that wish.” 

“You don’t have to decide on a punishment. I swear I won’t use them but I do deserve a good spanking…” Dimetrius said turning over in her lap and assuming the position already sobbing.

Crystal turned him back over and says, “No you agreed to the rules of Jade and I deciding punishments and rewards for you so you are going to tell us what they are. Or you are getting a spanking for disobeying and maybe a second one for what you did.”

Whimpering at the thought of extra strokes he says, “Okay…th…they’re very powerful but…I also have one that’s not classified as evil but is in the necromancy school so…you might as well add it to my punishment. The first one is the ability to summon forth undead creatures and command them to do my bidding on the third power scale for that spell. I also have vampiric touch, that’s the non-evil but still necromantic spell. Grim Revenge an…and Stop Heart.” he was visibly shaking by the end of the list.

“What do the last two do?” Jade said opening her bag and getting the paddle out. 

“G…Grim revenge causes the…the left hand of my target to literally rip off of the body and turn against it by strangling, or attempting to do so at least. And…and Stop Heart literally causes a grand mal heart attack in the victim. Both can be resisted but it’s almost impossible to do so.” He said knowing his wasn’t going to sleep when it was time to turn in due to an extremely sore backside.

Putting the paddle back Jade says, “no…No I can’t believe you would willingly have wished for those back had you remembered you knew those spells. You are not the same person you were and you have shown that you really do regret your past actions.” She said coming out with a different paddle, this one having holes drilled into it to cut down wind resistance and was made of mahogany. “I think you only deserve 20 swats from one of us but you also are going to be stripped of those spells to avoid temptation. Give me the sword.” 

Plucking the sword from his hands Crystal gave it to jade and took the paddle from her before turning him over her knee and pulling down the back of his diaper. “I agree with Jade but you still were reckless. If you had been slightly less careful you might have caused the corruption to come back as well as the demonic skin possession you had. I am going to add ten more swats to her verdict for that.” She then proceeded to give him the spanking he rightfully earned for being reckless and stupid. 

As she gave him his spanking, Jade took the blade and closed her eyes making her wish carefully wording it so that only those four spells were forgotten on how to be done by Dimetrius but not forgotten that he had once known them so he would not become confused as to why he was being spanked again. Kalabad flinching with the sound of each stroke did his best to ignore it while he kept an eye on the food. Once all was said and done Dimetrius was put on his bedroll with his diaper pulled back up the ability to use the four spells lost to him for good and Jade was wrapping the sword in enough cloth to keep it from being Dangerous or sharp and then tucked it into her diaper bag. 

After a short time Dimetirus had calmed down enough to manage a proper apology to them and to eat and drink his dinner before he rolled up in his bedroll sniffing sadly. After working out the shifts for guard duty Jade says, “Alright Kalabad bedtime, go on mister off to bed.” 

Going over to his bedroll beside Dimetrius Kalabad crawls into it and snuggled down tight letting the combination of the heavy blanket and the sun rods keep him warm as he drifted off to sleep.

Moving over to her own bedroll Crystal slides it up against Dimetrius’s and after crawling into it she pulls him and his blanket snug to her causing a slight whimper to come from him and she proceeds to pet him shushing him soothingly saying, “It’s okay little brother. We’re not mad anymore. You paid your punishment like a big boy and now all’s forgiven.” 

He just let out soft whimpers as he slowly fell asleep under her petting and she quickly fell asleep herself having a restful sleep though her dreams were stranger than normal to her. 

The next morning after a final diaper change for both boys to get them back into their swim diapers, Kalabad having wet twice during the night and to his horror had messed a little the second time, and Dimetrius having had two heavy wettings and messing changes during the night as well, Crystal went to the doors and removed her traps from them so they could continue on with their exploration of the city to find their target and goods. 

After a quick meal of meat and cheese and juice to drink the group armed up and went into the next room. Once they were inside they noticed two things immediately. First it smelled horrible, like an open sewer hole in the city. Second, there was an armor rack on the south wall with some magical items on it. They knew it was magic thanks to the glow from them and didn’t need Dimetrius to say it was magical. Looking around Dimetrius saw a nest like structure and says, “I think there might be something in that…should I check it or go try and identify the items?”

“I say check the nest first, just in case whatever could be in it is waiting to attack us from behind when you go near the stuff.” Jade said. 

Nodding Dimetrius touched her hammer and put the spell Dolorous Blow on it which made it much easier to deal critical damage with then he also activated the spell True Strike on himself which would make his next attack a guaranteed hit, even if it was out of a panic reflex.

Unsheathing his life stealing sword he used it to move the rags that were piled up around and for some reason found absolutely nothing in them. “nothing…hunh.” Sheathing the item he walked directly at the armor rack and the second he got in arms reach he was flung across the room hard and slammed into the wall rocking his head back hard enough to cause some damage. As he was flung the nest, which had been empty not ten seconds before burst out as four huge water naga slithered out from them all at once.

Kalabad unsheathing his rapier did his best to keep the thing at length as he faced off with the one coming right for him as he noticed it was extremely agile and quick to change directions. Jade facing off with another pulled out her Warhammer and shield and as the thing launched itself at her she swung hard in a side slash and caught the beast in the side of the head sending it into a wall with a sickening cracking sound.

Crystal quickly unsheathed her katana and slashed at the Naga advancing on her but was just a hair too slow and missed it completely. Causing it to hiss at her angrily and stalk her.

Dimetrius not having recovered from his sudden flying lesson failed to see the Naga as it came at him and cried out in great pain as the thing latched onto his left arm. As it dangled there and worried at his arm the creature started pumping copious amounts of its venom into him in hopes to quickly paralyze him so it could eat him whole.

Slashing hard with the life stealing blade Dimetrius cut the top of the things head off as he literally filleted it from the face down to the tip of the tail killing it in one stroke before he succumbed to the venom.  
Jade slamming her hammer down on the stunned Naga’s head smashing it completely looked at the other two and saw they were alright for the moment and ran over to Dimetrius and started to cast an antitoxin spell to remove the venom from his body. As she worked Crystal charged her blade with her chakra and then seeing a shadow steps onto it vanishing instantly causing the thing some confusion before she re-appeared above it and dropped from the ceiling impaling it behind the head sending the equivalent of an actual lightning bolt into it from her blades special properties.

Kalabad trying to feint to one side and dart to the other to try and stab the Naga ended up tripped himself and then screamed out in pain as the Naga struck sinking its dagger long teeth into his right side causing it to pierce his bladder and inject the venom around the area.

As the venom leaves his body Dimetrius points a finger at the Naga worrying on Kalabad’s side and casts Melf’s Acid Arrow at it striking the thing center mass. Screeching in pain the Naga let go and tried to slither around to charge at the weakened Dimetrius but barely makes it a foot before its entire body was melted by the effects of the acid.

Jade working fast pulls off her diaper bag of holding and pulls out two of the rejuvenation potions and tosses one to Crystal, “Give that to Kalabad.” She said uncorking the one in her hand and helping Dimetrius drink its contents.

Catching the bottle Crystal ran over to Kalabad and uncorked then helped him sit up just enough to swallow it without spilling and poured some down his throat. Once he had drank two mouthfuls he pushed her away and screamed in pain as the deep puncture wounds in his side smoked and hissed as they closed. The pain of the restoration caused the poor lad to soak his swim diaper which added to his discomfort.   
Dimetrius too stunned by the damage to his head and the pain in his arm took the bottle from Jade and downed the whole thing before letting out screams of pain himself as his arm smoked and the bites healed, as well as smoke pouring out his ears as his skull fracture was mended and the concussion healed. His own pain was so great he completely filled his swim diaper and almost needed to have it be removed to clean him up but stopped just shy of that and the garment cleaned itself instantly again and himself to boot.

Once the potions had done their job and healed the damage that it could heal the two went silent and just lay where they were panting or crying whichever their minds chose to do. Jade held Dimetrius and rubbed his back gently trying to sooth him while Crystal did the same for Kalabad and after a good ten minutes the two were calm and ready to move on. 

Getting up Dimetrius walked over to the rack of items as the glow had vanished and reached out to touch them saying, “The gwow was a twap I can dentify da items now.” 

“Go ahead then sweetie what do we have here?” Jade said standing with him and rubbing his back still to help settle his mind and try to bring it back to his adult set.

Picking up the two pairs of gauntlets he used his skills and finally says, “Dese gawntwets ob Ogre powa. Dey make you stwonger if you wear dem. But ya gats to wear bof pieces ob da set.” He handed them to Jade to free his hands up.

“That could be useful to me and jade.” Crystal said taking a pair from her and inspecting them herself.

“Yeah those would be useful to you two…hope there is something I could use here” Kalabad said grumpily not happy he had to experience so much pain from that bite and the potion. It was worse than when Jade had spanked him for swearing, worse than any pain he had experienced so far in his life.

Picking up the skull shaped mask Dimetrius looks it over then drops it realizing what it was. “No…no touch no touch. Bad bad magic.” He said kicking it hard to send it across the room and break in half.  
“Dimetrius what was that?” Jade said disappointed that he would destroy something even if it was bad magic according to him without asking.

“Evil magic mask. It can kiww wif a touch if wown and den commanded to wike wif da finger ob def spew. I no want dat fing neaw us.” He said picking up the steel and normal looking skullcap helmet. 

“Oh…yes that is evil magic. Okay dear what is this one? It looks like a regular helmet to me?” she said indicating the skullcap.

“I…I wonda…” he said putting it over his head and lowering it down. Once it was on his head there was a small flash and the helmet transformed into a very ornate Centurion styled helmet with 100 gems decked out around it. There were ten diamonds, twenty rubies, thirty fire opals and forty opals. 

“HOLY SHIT.” Jade said shocked by the effect of the helmet. 

Shocked by her reaction Dimetrius quickly pulled off the helmet and his eyes watered in happiness and joy. “It is…it’s a helm ob bwiwiance.” He said hugging it. 

“You’re kidding. I can’t believe we found another thing you have had experience with. Tell us what it can do sweetie. It’s the least you can do before we decide who gets what.” Jade said pulling it gently from his hands to look it over.

“Okay mama…It is lots of powa so um…I gots ta member…you has ta be wewing it to do any of its fings. Wif a command you can use da powa stowed in one ob da bems, Opaws do daywight spew. Fia owpas do a big fia baw spew. Um…da wubies do…oh ya da wubies do waw of fwames and da diamond do da pwismatic spway.” He said slowly having to think hard. 

“Wow this is beautiful.” Kalabad said taking it from Jade and looking it over himself. “is there any other properties of magic to it?” He added.

“Unhunh lots. You is vewy wesistant to fia attacks ob magic kinds and imoon to non-magic fia. Um…you can make you weapon be a fiawy one wif a command wowd. Um…you aways know when da undead awe wifin…wifin…firty feet ob you. um…dere is one dangerwous fing dough…If ya is not stwong enouf to wesist da…I guess ya can caws it a sewf destwuction twigger afta getting hit and hurted by magic fia da fing splodes and aww da unused gems go off at once focused stwaight down on ya.” Dimetrius says causing Crystal to blanch as she instpected the hat.

“This is rather dangerous but…it can be very useful what do you guys think who should have it?” Jade said.

“Well I had to miss out on the last round since there was only three so I should get at least one of these items. It’s only fair.” Kalabad said

“Kalabad does have a point so how about this you me and Crystal play that paper stone knife to see who gets left out for this round since the mask had to be destroyed.” Jade said to Dimetrius who whimpered and looked sad that he might lose a chance to get his precious helmet back.

“Awight…is ony fawe.” He said sadly setting himself between the two so they could play the game. 

After five minutes due to several ties on the first person to get a choice Dimetrius was giggling as he put the Helm of brilliance on and off again just to make sure he was not dreaming. Kalabad was settling the first pair of gauntlets on his hands while Jade and Crystal continued to show down to see who got the second pair. Once they threw their choice after Dimetrius took the helm off for the fifth time Jade laughed as she saw him start pretending to teeth on it and threw parchment a hair slower than Crystal who ended up throwing knife.

Once Crystal had the gauntlets on her fist the four leave the building and head out into the sea again following Dimetrius’s nose. Eventually they came to a room in a building that had a couple more of the chests with the rejuvenation potions and some platinum making their total of both 22 potions and 90 platinum to divide up once the job was done. As they were leaving the room the floor collapses under Dimetrius and he plummets down towards a pride of Seacats. The giant half tiger half fish beasts roared and thrashed as the rubble descended upon them with Dimetrius amongst them. Splashing down into the pool Dimetrius screamed as he saw the dozen odd beasts starting to follow him in and acting out of reflex shouted the command to activate the prismatic spray right at the same time Crystal launched a chain chakrabolt at the cats. As the Seacats she had struck twitched from the electrical current and died Dimetrius managed to nail five of the six that had come at him with the beams from his helmet. Two turned to stone, one disintegrated as though it had been dipped in acid and two just vanished. The remaining Seacat slammed into his side hard sending him into a wall hard with an audible cracking sound speeding away it turned to charge into him again aiming to kill him as their kind did to hunt for food. As it started the charge a loud explosion of sound came and it careened off course to slam into the wall a few feet from him leaving a line of blood in the water as it crashed through. The second it had died the pit started to fill rapidly with water from the outside sea as the water rose and filled the pit Dimetrius holding his sides in pain tried to relax as it lifted him as well. 

Once he was high enough to get him out of the water the three grabbed him under the arms and carefully lifted him out though he still screamed in pain as he felt his ribs pop again indicating a nearly full break of at least one. “Lay him down and get that shirt to the side I need to see the area to fix his ribs properly.” Jade said over his screams. Crystal nodding carefully untied the sash though she was rather quick and spread the right half of his shirt open and revealed a dark purple area where he was bruising already over the ribs. 

Swallowing hard Jade says, “Crystal you hold him down by the shoulders. Kalabad you get his legs the more he moves the harder and more painful this is going to be.” Nodding the two got into position and pressed down hard on him as Jade started the incantation of her second strongest healing spell and placed her hands on the ribs then pressed slowly as the spell allowed her to reach into him in a semisolid state so she could manipulate his insides if needed. Screaming in the pain that only those who are damned can understand for a second, Dimetrius goes deathly quiet as he passed out and went limp as a boned fish. Working slowly to avoid mistakes Jade sets his ribs back in place and begins to mend them once the ribs were whole and repaired Jade pulled her hands out of him making them go completely solid again once they were out and then forced a load of healing magic into his bruise to heal it and remove the pain they would cause allowing him to move and fight normally when he awoke.

“He is going to be out for a while. Nobody could have taken that and not pass out from the pain. Let’s set up a small camp and wait in the other room with him.” Crystal said looking concerned for Dimetrius.   
Nodding the three took him back to the other room and Jade set up an area of protection against evil. Then set up the bedrolls so they could nap a bit if they wanted. Crystal putting Dimetrius’s and hers on top of each other against a wall got on top of it and said, “Lay him in my lap. You may have done the healing but you can’t share Chakra like I can and he, for lack of a better term, needs a recharge. Poor little bro, it seems that everything that we’ve come across since he made that wish last night has been happening in an attempt to stop him. Granted the Naga attacked all four of us but the floor collapsing when he was the last one in there…and then the things attacking him instantly and the last one breaking his ribs and trying to finish him off with a bodyslam…I just get this feeling there is something going on that we are not aware of.” 

Jade and Kalabad working together picked up Dimetrius and lay him in Crystals lap resting his head on her stomach. “It is weird. Like…I don’t know it’s like were being watched and whatever is doing it knows he is our ace in the hole. When it comes down to it he has saved our butts several times already. And given he has his powers and memories of his past life intact he could technically be considered more experienced than Crystal and I.” Kalabad said as he sat on his own bedroll after he stripped off his pants. 

“You want to change into a regular diaper while we wait or just go as you are? If so you can put your pants back on dear.” Jade said as she sat on the floor next to Crystal and pet Dimetrius’s head.  
“I’ll just stay as is but I don’t feel like getting up to put my pants back on at the moment mama Jade.” He said with a yawn. 

“Alright then why don’t you take a nap then since you seem tired enough? You had your own painful moments today given the healing of that Naga bite on your side and stomach.” Jade said kindly but in a way that indicated that she was ordering him to lay down for a nap.

Rolling his eyes internally he says, “Fine but don’t let me sleep longer than necessary. When he wakes up you wake me up.” And he rolls himself into his blanket and goes to sleep.  
As the two boys slept Crystal and Jade talk quietly planning what they should get for Kally with what they knew of her given they only met her for a short time and not wanting to make the people of their world look like liars by not giving her the present they promised.

“Well she is a toddler. What about some sort of toy? Like what do little girls like doing most?” Crystal said.

“Hmm…well the girls in my orphanage like playing dress up with some fake jewelry and have “tea parties” where they pretend to be nobility.” Jade said thinking. 

“That’s it. Get her some real jewelry and a nice tea set and I can use my wish for this four week set to make them gigantic so they would be properly sized for her. Because I doubt Aram will be available to do it and even if he was he would probably cost a lot to hire for the small task.” Crystal said smiling.

“Mommy I don’t wanna have schooling today.” Dimetrius mumbled in his sleep as he snuggled closer into Crystal causing both girls to laugh. 

Two hours pass before Dimetrius wakes up and when he does he looks around saying, “What happened? Last thing I remember was falling into a pride of Seacats.” 

“You got hurt by their bull and were nearly killed. I had to set three broken ribs and heal them. You passed out when I stuck my hands into your body to work.” Jade said kindly petting his head.

“Oh yeah…wait how did you stick your hands in me without cutting me open.” He said sitting up fast and looking down at his chest seeing no cut marks or anything.

“My healing magic lets me partially phase my hands out of this realm so I can move them into a person if needed to avoid cutting them open if we don’t have sanitary conditions to operate properly.” Jade said as she was getting up and walking over to Kalabad to shake him awake.

Once Kalabad was awake the four broke down the makeshift camp and started off to examine the last two buildings they had to inspect. Both with equally powerful magical scents which prevented Dimetrius from telling which one the master of the area was in and which had the stolen items.

Swimming to the low one story building that looked like a mansion Dimetrius says, “I’ll bet part of my share of the loot and reward that whoever is causing this crap is in there.”

“No bet here.” The other three say in unison causing a slight laugh.

“YOU FOOLS DARE ENTER MY DOMAIN WITHOUT MY LEAVE. YOU HAVE ENSURED YOUR DOOM HERE AND ONCE YOU ARE DEAD I WILL RESURECT YOUR BODIES TO USE AS MY PERSONAL SERVENTS TO REPLACE THOSE YOU HAVE MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD.” Suddenly there is a blinding flash that is accompanied by a deafening crack of thunder, when the Heroes vision clears from the flash, they sea giant primeval fish with many tentacles and a large dragon turtle.

“An aboleth…how did I know it was going to be one of those ancient pains in the ass. Careful you guys if this is the actual ruler here no doubt he is a mage of his kind.” Dimetrius says carefully as he drew the sword of life stealing and settled the helm and ring on his head and finger. 

“If you know what I am whelping then you too must be proud of your magical prowess. I challenge you to a duel of magic only my pet will keep your friends entertained while we see who the greater lord of the sea is. Do you think you have the skill to battle with the likes of me, you have one minute to decide. Then I will attack all of you with the might of magic and my queen’s blessing.” It said 

Huddling up but in a way they could keep an eye on the thing the four quickly discuss a plan. “Can you do it? Do you have the strength to fight this creature without us man? That thing looks rather though and probably has a very thick hide that would be hard to pierce.” Kalabad said quickly.

“I’m not sure…best guess is 70/30 my favor. I can smell his power and it’s pretty strong. But not as strong as I thought, the turtle added to his power scent I smelled outside. Do you three think you can take the turtle down on your own? If not I will deny him his game and help you out.” 

“I think between the three of us we can manage. So long as it don’t have any magic or at least nothing too powerful we should be fine. Yeah it has the huge shell but it needs to be outside to use its huge mouth and fins to attack don’t it.” Crystal said.

“She’s right we can do it. If you need it I think we could loan you the rings to help you out.” Jade said with the others nods of agreement.

“No you keep them for it I have the helmet and my own magical power. That is more than enough. Just make sure you do not end up in front of me at any angle.” Dimetrius said getting up all the way.

“I accept your duel offer. Magic against magic alone, if either of us tries to get physical then the duel is off and all parties are involved. Furthermore there shall be no moving from our chosen spots.” Dimetrius said boldly 

“Agreed, If you slay me dominion over my kingdom becomes yours. If I win your friends become my slaves living or dead it is of no matter to me I can use them in either sense.” It said swimming off to the side to give the three and his pet plenty of room to fight. Swimming in the same direction Dimetrius sets himself in front of the mage and the duel was off.


	7. Chapter 7: 20,000 Spells Under The Sea

“IQXC” screamed the Aboleth mage as 5 bright white missiles launched at Dimetrius.

Holding out a hand fingers and thumb aimed at his opponent Dimetrius said nothing but launched five missiles of his own causing them to strike the ones shot by the monstrous fish creature. 

Spreading his fingers wide Dimetrius fires off a beam in an arch that looked like a miniature rainbow which upon striking the Aboleth let out a crack of thunder as the energy converted to electrical and caused it to shriek in pain.

“saodig…woeihwg….odihneirs…” the creature sounded as it cast three powerful spells. The first caused Dimetrius to be struck with a powerful bolt of lightning which made him twitch in pain. The second spell made a vaporous figure appear in front of Dimetrius, to his eyes though it was clear as day that Mephistopheles had appeared and was looking pissed beyond count. “You’re not real. You can piss off I am NOT going to serve you ever again.” Dimetrius said slashing the phantasm with the Life stealing sword causing it to be decapitated and become a vague shape before turning towards where the mage was hiding and moving back towards it.

“WOEI POOIGHSODFIVRJG NUFIBH WEGB.” It screeched causing the thing to vanish completely having seeing the direction it had aimed itself at Dimetrius fires a lightning breath attack at the mage striking it full force destroying its invisibility and causing it to shriek in pain again.

Over on the other side of the massive room Crystal and Jade dodge to the sides as the Dragon turtle charges at them for the second time. Kalabad who was down to just his rapier and augmented strength due to his gauntlets and the few powers in his ring of water command jumps hard causing the turtle to pass under him and he stabbed down with the sword trying to pierce its head. 

Doing a corkscrew type spin the turtle caused Kalabad’s blade to pass its head completely though the side did scrape its face which irritated it. Flipping around to see Kalabad fully and have a perfect aim it opened its mouth and shot a pulse of superheated water at him hitting him hard on the stomach leaving a first degree burn on his skin under his shirt and making him release a little into his diaper from the impact itself.  
Grunting Kalabad pointed his fist with the ring on it at the turtle and said “Ice wall,” causing a very thick wall of ice to appear instantly behind it thus making it slam headfirst into the wall stunning it.

Shaking its head the turtle flipped over to his stomach and turned to face Kalabad again and charged at full speed slamming hard into him and keeping contact slams him into the ceiling causing him some moderate internal harm. Crystal who had been making hand signs thrusts her blade forward and shouts RAKURAI, causing a large emerald green bolt of lightning to strike the turtle though it depleted her Chakra reserves as she had only half power left after sharing it with Dimetrius. As the thing twitched and smoked Jade swam over and slammed her hammer down on its shell cracking it all the way up and down the spine ridge.

Screeching in pain the turtle clamped down on Kalabad’s stomach with its beak right over the lower intestine and squeezing tight causing the boy to accidentally soil his swim diaper and try to hit the thing off him.  
Hearing the pain and suffering of his friend Dimetrius got angry and redoubled his efforts and focuses his energy into making his next attack full power and fires a lightning bolt from his finger piercing the side of the creature making it scream out in pain again. 

Crystal seeing the thing would not let Kalabad go got close and slashed down hard with her sword cutting its head off with one clean stroke making it open its jaws in a silent scream.

Seeing his pet floating down to the floor dead and bleeding from the neck the Aboleth went berserk and slammed hard into Kalabad cracking his hip,ribs and shoulder on the left side as it planted a curse on him of such power that it knew the only thing that could remove it was a potion made from the blood of its master. Then it used the spell Evard’s Black Tentacles causing several dozen tentacles to erupt from the silt and walls to grapple all three of them. The ones on Kalabad and crystal however did something worse. They bent the two over and started striking their backsides, the ones on Kalabad actually pulled down his pants and swim diaper to make it worse. 

Swimming over as fast as he could Dimetrius says, “You dishonorable fuck you shall pay.” And he activated not only his dragon breath and lightning bolt spells at the same time he also sent out a prismatic spray into the beasts back quarter to avoid hitting his friends frying the creature with four sources of electrical damage as well as two separate sources, one acid and one ice.

Screaming in pain the creature literally exploded in a small burst of fish parts as a black shadow burst from it and flew off through the sea. As the creature floated to the floor the tentacles disappeared with a final hard smack on Crystal and Kalabad’s butts leaving them rather sore and Kalabad in desperate need of a rejuvenation potion. 

“Jade you take Kalabad to the room we were just at and get him a potion. I know it’s going to hurt little brother but let her give it to you please.” He said as Kalabad started to bawl in pain and fear of more so from the potions.

Nodding Jade took Kalabad in her arms gently and using her feet only kicked her way out of the room moving towards the building they had left to come here and getting him out on the dry land she laid him down against her lap and opened her bag pulling out the potion. After opening it and putting it to his lips she said, “Drink dear. It will heal you up right quick and make you feel better.” Whimpering he drank the bottle down and braced himself for a painful couple minutes and was surprised when the burning or smoking didn’t hit him. 

“W…why doesn’t it hurt like with the Naga bite.” He asked whimpering from shock.

“I think it’s because they were magical wounds and these are just normal damage. Is your bottom feeling better too?” she asked stroking his head.

Sniffing he nods, “Yes mama Jade all of me feels better. Let’s go find the others now so we can get the stuff and go home.” He said quietly hugging her.

Corking the bottle with just enough for a small sip left in it she puts it in the bag again and closes the bag tight saying, “Alright then let’s go.”

Once the two arrived at the last building they see Dimetrius and crystal working together to put several crates onto a bunch of silver floating discs that had the appearance of solidity and liquidity at the same time. “Where did you find those discs?” Kalabad asked. 

“I made them. They are Tenser’s floating discs and I used a permanency spell to keep them around despite the restrictions on them normally. It will make moving these outside and onto the ship much easier.” Dimetrius said as he and Crystal loaded a huge crate onto the last disc.

“Oh wow…so they can hold a lot of weight and make it easy to move then. Interesting, can you do other things with them?” Jade said as she was kneeling down to touch one of the discs lightly.

“Oh yeah you can ride them like a mount if you don’t mind sitting with your legs crossed the whole time and only going as fast as you can run. You can also use them to hold a liquid in their base by pouring it into it and it will never spill or tip regardless of terrain and it is a perfectly smooth glide so if you go over a lot of bumps or something it won’t even notice unlike with a wagon or horse.” He answered after Crystal and he had the crate set.

Once the crates were set he showed the others out to push them and took two himself letting the others take two each and carefully he placed his hands under his two and says, “Keep your hands under them until we breech the surface they will sink back down otherwise.” And he took off at the head of the group letting the other three come up behind him in a diamond formation. Once they reached the surface of the waves the discs floated over the water and he pushed them towards the boat noticing that it was almost dark. “Wow…I thought we were quick once we woke up…I’m sorry that my needing two healings and a bit of time to come to has caused us to be late. I’ll handle the light though I’ll just use an opal to make the daylight spell.” He said.

“Alright then light us up so they can send down the cargo loader.” Kalabad said as his stomach let out a loud gurgling indicating his hunger.

After activating his helmet the area was lit up like a small sun was coming from the crates sending the crew on the boat into frenzy as they saw the boxes coming at them. Once the loader was down in the water the four pushed the cargo in place before it was raised up slowly. Going over to the ladder on the side the four climbed up onto the deck and once there collapsed hard exhausted.

“Excuse me you four but I have a message from the shop where diapers are sold in the capital. There have been several problems reported with the special swim diapers. It says the magic on them only works if the person wearing it is below water level.” He said unfurling a scroll that was small and looked as if it was delivered by a bird.

“Thank you captain…once the crates are stowed you can take us back to the capital. We’re going to need a double serving of whatever you had for dinner for each of us sent to the cabin.” Jade said as she stood up and helped Kalabad to his feet while Crystal and Dimetrius helped each other up, both boys nervous as heck about the info about the swim diapers but not more so than Crystal who really had to go. Once the boys were in the cabin and striping out of their soaked clothing with Jade doing the same she put them both in a nice dry diaper while Crystal went to relieve herself taking a towel to wrap around herself so she could strip out of her soaked clothing.

“Mama Jade…can we move the beds together and have a big snuggle pile when we go to bed?” Dimetrius asked cutely feeling the effects of the day taking its toll but knowing he needed to eat before going to sleep.

“Only If Kalabad and Crystal want to as well dear.” Jade said patting his padded front having just finished taping him up in it.

Kalabad lying back on the bed to let Jade work on him says, “I think it would be okay.” 

After removing his swim diaper and wiping him clean quickly, Jade got Kalabad diapered thickly and with some rash cream on the small rash that was starting to form then hung the swim diapers and their clothes on the steam pipes as well as her own clothes and got out a clean pair of underwear and pants and a shirt for herself that looked extremely baggy and says, “Turn away you two I may be in my undies right now but you are not getting a peek at me bare.” 

Giggling Dimetrius rolled over and faced the wall as Kalabad did the same grinning. Once she was bare she grabbed her towel off her bed and dried off before putting on her undies and pants and shirt. By the time she finished Crystal came out of the bathroom wrapped tight in the towel and laid her pants over the steam pipe with her swim diaper still inside and her shirt top over it along with her sash.

Then she went over to her bed and got out a pair of soft shorts that felt like silk but wouldn’t get ruined if they got wet by any means and then a matching top and said, “I guess since it’s late we should go to bed right after we eat.” She then slipped the shorts on under her towel and then turned her back and slipped on the top.

Yawning again Dimetrius says, “Mama Jade said we can push the beds together if you and Kalabad said okay.” 

“Oh she did…what does Kalabad say to that?” Crystal said tickling Dimetrius’s stomach.

“I’m okay with having a big group snuggle tonight. After what we experienced down there I think it would be nice to feel safe.” He said blushing as there was a knock on the door.

“Cap’n said to bring ya double servings and a huge pitcher of juice.” The voice said. 

Going over to the door Jade says, “Thank you sailor you can go about your business. We’ll bring the kart back to the kitchen in the morning.” Then she pulled the kart inside and shut the door after flipping him a gold coin as a tip.

Once the door was shut and locked Crystal stopped tickling Dimetrius which subsided his laughter and says, “Alright then let’s push the beds together first then we can eat and bed down for the night.” 

Nodding Kalabad, Dimetrius and Jade got on either side of the middle beds and pushed them together before going and pushing the outside beds into them as well. once the beds were set up so they could snuggle and sleep comfortably on them Jade grinned and winked at Crystal before saying, “I think these two are too tired to manage their food themselves.”

“Oh yes I think my little brothers need their big sis and step mama to feed them and to put their juice in a bottle.” Crystal said making both boys blush despite their grins.

Dimetrius blushing says, “I still got’s some with juice in my diaper bag if you want to use them. And a couple of empty bottles in there that are clean too.” 

Crystal picking it up pulls out two large bottles for Jade to fill with the juice on the kart and then pulled out two of Dimetrius’s filled bottles and pulls him into her lap. “Come here stinky butt.” She said as she settled him into her lap.

“Nah a stinky butt…yet.” He said before hhe popped the bottle in his mouth causing her and Jade to laugh.

“Bottle first or some of the food Kalabad?” Jade said.

“Food please, but can I have some juice in a regular cup too so I can keep from getting too thirsty?” He replied blushing. 

Setting down the two bottles she had filled Jade fills a plate with food including pork chop, mashed potato and some sort of green vegetable before pouring a large glass of juice. After cutting the pork chop up Jade sat down on the bed and proceeded to feed Kalabad his plate and let him drink from his cup himself. By the time he had finished his plate Dimetrius had started on his and quickly ate it as though he had a black hole in his mouth and finished within a minute of Kalabad.

“Oh my, somebody was really hungry. Do you want more little brother?” Crystal asked petting is head as he licked his lips.

“Yes please.” He said as Jade had gotten up and started filling a second plate for Kalabad.

After filling a plate again for him Crystal sits down and says, “Hmm…how about we make a game out of this plate for you two?”

“What kind of game?” Kalabad said cautiously.

“Well the first one to clean their plate and finish their second bottle gets a present from me after we get to shore and turn in the items to the king. I’ll pay for it from my share of the money loot we found in the chests.” She said.

“I dunno…he ate all that food in a minute…and I’m not sure I can eat it all again.” Kalabad said.

“Yeah sis I don’t think I could eat the full plate right now either. Let alone pound another bottle.” Dimetrius said.

“Alright how about we put a timer on it and whoever finishes more at the buzzer wins and I will pitch in on the cost of the prize. Let’s say…thirty minutes.” Jade said sitting down next to Kalabad as Crystal sat with Dimetrius.

“Okay…that’s reasonable this way we don’t get sick.” Kalabad and Dimetrius said in one of those rare in synch moments and they both start laughing.

Jade and Crystal getting the first spoonful say, “On your mark, get set...eat.” and proceed to feed the two boys at the same time letting them decide when to take the next bite on their own.

Half an hour later the plates were compared as were the bottles and Kalabad had eaten and drank slightly more than Dimetrius. “Yaay UUUURP…excuse me.” he said blushing as he let out a loud belch after his victory whoop.

Dimetrius who had already started fading into sleep grabbed his favorite pacifier from the diaper bag and says, “You wantsh a pashi to sleep wif Kawabad? I gotsh free new onesh weft.” 

“Do you have any ‘nana flavored ones?” he asked before yawning hard. 

Digging in the pocket Dimetrius pulls out a yellow and brown one with a picture of a banana on the package and opened it feeding the lanyard through one of the holes for it and setting it so Kalabad could wear it around his neck like the amulet then handed it to him.

Smiling Kalabad says, “Thanks Dimetrius.” Then he slipped it over his head and popped it in his mouth. 

“Ni ni.” Dimetrius said with another yawn as he curled up on his side facing Kalabad.

“Night everyone.” Kalabad said closing is eyes while suckling on the pacifier.

“G’night you two.” Jade and Crystal said together before covering them up and eating their own share of the dinner. Once they had ate their fill and made sure to park the kart out of the way so they could get to the bathroom in the middle of the night without tripping over it the two crawl up onto the bed fully putting the boys between them and spooning their respective backs. Crystal with Dimetrius and Jade with Kalabad and they quickly fell asleep exhausted from the hard day. 

The next morning Jade was changing Kalabad who had woken up with her and was feeling grumpy because despite having woken up and made it to the bathroom once he still somehow managed to end up filling his diaper after he had crawled back into bed with everyone. Shushing him quietly so as not to disturb the others she says, “It’s okay sweetie you had a really bad day yesterday and it’s only natural your body did it to help you keep energy to recover. You may have healed but that don’t mean you are recovered sweetie.” 

“Buh I only has wetting problems I don’t poop my bed or pants during the day.” He grumbled as she wiped him clean.

“Honey if it bothers you that much I’ll see if we can’t get a fully trained healer, one who specializes in this kind of problem, to look you over when we finish things up after we dock okay?” she said lifting him clear of the diaper and wiping off his backside before moving it away and putting the clean thick blue diaper in its place.

“But…but can’t you tell what’s causing it? I thought you healed me completely and that those potions were supposed to heal all damage.” He said embarrassed as she started rubbing powder and diaper rash cream into his skin.

“I can heal general damage and non-magical wounds sweetie. The rejuvenation potions are supposed to heal all damage but there may not be anything physically wrong. Do you understand that? There could be something magical that’s going on or you could be doing this subconsciously due to something in your past. If the healer finds no problems then we can ask some other people. I will stay with you the whole time so you don’t feel too embarrassed okay?” she said closing the front panel over him snugly and fastening the six tapes to it.

“Okay…but only if you stay with me. I don’t like the idea of someone I haven’t been around much touching and using magic on me.” he said blushing before she popped his pacifier in his mouth.

“I said I would sweetie now why don’t you rest some more and try not to wake Dimetrius or Crystal.” She said rolling up the spoiled diaper and tossing it in the trash before going to wash her hands and relieve herself.

Nodding he curled back up under his blanket still feeling cranky but also exhausted still and closed his eyes once Jade came out of the bathroom a just waking up Crystal mumbled a “morning,” and went past her into the bathroom to do her own business. Going over to Dimetrius who was squirming a bit in his sleep as the sun fell across his face Jade decided to check his diaper and was glad she had as he was worse off than Kalabad and been. Putting his pacifier into his sleeping mouth she grinned as it instantly soothed his sleep and got his diaper bag from next to the beds and chuckling at seeing pink diapers in there pulled one of the thick pink ones out as well as his own wipes and powder then proceeded to change him. Once he was set she covered him back up and closed the blinds on the porthole to let him sleep in the twilight some more and tossed out his used diaper.

Coming out of the bathroom Crystal yawns and says quietly, “So what’s our plan for the day Jade.” 

Checking her regular clothes Jade frowns at their still being somewhat damp and says, “Well I have to do my morning meditation and prayers to stay in good standing with Pelor and keep my clerical power so that is first after that…I’m guessing breakfast and then maybe taking care of our weapons…I mean we WERE in salt water and that stuff eats through metal like nothing. I usually have to treat my hammer once a week just living in the city due to the briny air.” She said. 

“You know that sounds pretty good actually. I’m, forgive my language as I don’t give a shit this early, but I’m so exhausted I could sleep in hell and not be bothered. I haven’t done a full chakra drain in forever. Meditation will help restore it.” Crystal said before yawning again.

“It’s not even 8 am so I don’t care either about language. I usually don’t care until after my third cup of coffee. Care to join me on deck then for some meditation in the sun?” Jade replied with her own yawn.  
Nodding Crystal opened the door and waved Jade to go first.

Once up on the deck the two find a nice comfortable spot that was out of the way of the deckhands and bask in the early morning sun for a moment as they sit down Jade says, “Were you awake when I was changing Kalabad?” 

“A little bit, why?” Crystal replied.

“Well…I could be jumping at shadows here but…he just seemed different. Like there was something wrong but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I mean he…well didn’t he sound more like a toddler who was upset he had had an accident when he was doing well with potty training to you?” Jade said setting her back against the mast and getting as comfortable as possible.

“Honestly…I think he sounded just like any person would sound when they wake up and found they shat in their sleep.” Crystal said doing the same on a different side of the mast but close enough to hear Jade.

“You may be right…I don’t want to alarm him if it’s nothing but he did take a lot of damage to his stomach region yesterday and my magic didn’t find anything when I checked him before changing him. I mean you would think I would see at least some scar tissue inside from the Naga fangs at least or the Dragon Turtle’s bite…Bah I can’t think before I meditate. Promise to keep my concern between us for now will you?” She said.

“Sure. Best get started on your prayers and meditation though before Pelor decides to give YOU a spanking.” Crystal teased as she closed her eyes and started her meditation.

“Smartass.” Jade said with a chuckle before she started chanting softly the prayer for the rising sun, the prayer for justice and honor to be upheld during the day, and the prayer for peace to remain in a large part in the world. Finally after the peace prayer she felt her Cleric magic restore itself and felt her mind rush away from her body to land in a large courtyard that was surrounded by flowerbeds of all her favorite breeds of flowers.

“Good morning my daughter, was your night’s sleep restful?” A kind deep voice said from behind her coming from a bronze skinned man who wore a breastplate of solid gold and was sitting on the bench there feeding some birds seeds from a bag.

Crossing her arms over her chest Jade kneels and bows her head in submission saying, “Lord Pelor it is an honor to be given audience with you without asking. Yes I slept soundly though my body was very drained of energy because of the events of the day. What might your humble servant do for you.” 

“Rise my child and come sit with me. I have a few things I wish to speak to you about.” He said kindly beckoning her with an gentle opened hand. 

Rising and going to him taking his hand gently she says, “Whatever you wish to say I am willing to listen my lord.”

Pulling her into his lap as she does the children at the orphanage when she has to speak to them one on one he says, “That’s good that you are listening to me dear because I have important things to say. Firstly I wish to congratulate you and your friends for succeeding in destroying the servant of the one who has come to destroy our world. You also showed great compassion and open mindedness when you were confronted by Kally. Not many in your situation would have stayed their hands when confronted with a colossal creature let alone one that had a squid’s tentacles and arms as well as the shape as part of their head. These two actions have almost assured you a seat in my house as a lesser god when you choose to leave that world or when you pass on.” He gave her a friendly pat on the back smiling as he did so when he told her this.

Blushing hard she said, “I just was quick to think is all my lord. I try to not attack first if I can help it. And the second I saw her diaper I sort of guessed she wasn’t really at fault. Then her voice told me quite clearly she was but a child and…well having worked in your orphanage for over a century I have learned quite well that children rarely understand their actions. But it was Dimetrius’s skill that let us kill the beast who was tricking her and controlling the sea life my lord not me or my thinking ability.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit my child. Yes Dimetrius is a strong boy and very talented but do you not think that were it not for your firm, caring, guiding hand that he would have been able to do these things he is able to do? My friend Boccob has told me all about him and what happened in his former life and I know you know his story as well. Do you not think that if you weren’t willing to discipline him, correct him and show him the right choices this time around that he would be as good a soul as he is now?” Pelor said kindly.

“Well…I guess when you put it in that sense I guess I do deserve more credit. I just have this feeling right here…” she placed her hand on her stomach just under her sternum. “That I could be or should be doing something more with him or for him. Like I should be protecting him like a child. Does that make any sense my lord?” She finished feeling a bit lost.

“It does my child. I feel it every day when I hear the prayers of my favored and yet I know that if I do too much for you and the others that you won’t grow as you need to. The best thing to do is to keep going as you are. Keep him close, teach him, and give him loving discipline when necessary to help him grow into his powers as needed. Let him make mistakes, let the young kunoichi girl teach him her craft as well as help out with him. He has a hard road ahead and despite having a loving mother and father and a new baby sister he will need more love. Love of his friends to be able to do what is needed in the end.” Pelor said kissing her on the head.

“Kunoichi? Is that what Crystal is? I thought she was a ninja?” Jade asked.

“That is the proper term for a female ninja dear child. Now I have one last thing to speak to you of. It is regarding the young adventurous one whom you have taken under your wing. I sensed your distress about him as you were praying and took a look myself to see if I could divine the cause of his problem.” Pelor said with a solemn tone.

“My lord?” Jade said worried it was going to be the worst thing ever.

“He will be fine physically but you need to be there for him emotionally. That creature you fought yesterday placed a curse on him so powerful that not even all of us gods combined could break it. It is old magic, older than us and can only be broken with the blood of the creature that gave him the power to do it. He is going to be completely dependent on needing diapers until you four find and slay the creature causing the trouble on your world. He is also going to be slightly more…he will want more to do with the babyish side of things. But that may be a good thing if it helps him cope with being diapered all the time now.” he said shaking his head.

“Oh…I thought you were going to say it was something that…that might have claimed his life. If it is nothing more than his needing diapers and someone to care for him that is no trouble at all. I will give him all he needs and more. He already expressed a sort of…closeness to me by wanting me to be with him when I offered to take him to some better trained healers.” She said. 

“Alright then my child it is time for you to return to your world. You’ve been gone for quite some time and will need plenty of food once you open your eyes.” He said poking her on the forehead causing her to feel like she was slowly falling from a great height before she “landed” in her body and groaned from stiffness.

“Bout time you came too. I take it you’re patron had much to tell you?” Crystal said squatting down with a large tray of food and setting it to the side to help Jade straighten her legs.

“Yes. He told me much and I have bad news for Kalabad. No doubt he will be upset so let’s save it till after I’ve eaten and we can get my legs working.” Jade replied.

Once Crystal had Jades legs straightened she nods at the food and says, “eat I’ll get your legs working.” And she starts massaging the calf, knee and thighs using her chakra to assist in the process. 

“Thanks.” Jade said picking up the plate and eating her breakfast and what appeared to be lunch as well. By the time she finished the plate and the flagon of mead her legs were feeling back to normal and with some help got back to her feet and returned the tray and cup to the kitchen.

A short time later Jade was hugging and rubbing the back of Kalabad who was rather upset. “I know it’s hard to accept dear but you will get used to needing them. I’ll be there for you every step of the way if you need me to and I promise never to throw you aside because of something like this. Pelor said we would be able to cure you of the curse if we do find the one behind all this weirdness that is going on and defeat it.” She said rubbing his back while hugging him 

Sucking on the banana flavored pacifier that Dimetrius had given him Kalabad just whimpers too upset to speak for the moment. Yes he had wanted to experiment with wearing and using on his own but being cursed so he HAD to wear them or end up ruining clothes and furniture was just so unfair. Suddenly it hit him…Dimetrius…he knew how Kalabad was feeling or could sympathize as the full cause of his needing diapers was because he had been punished by Boccob so he would not have control until the task he had been given was completed at the least. Looking over his shoulder he saw Dimetrius sitting there in his padding and shirt with a look of remorse on his face. 

Before he could ask why Dimetrius looked like that Dimetrius said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough to stop it from cursing you Kalabad …If…if you need someone to talk to…someone who understands your feelings and pain you can talk to me all you need.” Then he pulled out a Kunai and drug it across the palm of his hand hard enough to cut himself to bleed and says, “I vow by the blood in my veins that I will help you cure this curse so you can go back to only wearing when you WANT to and not because you have to.” 

“I don’t blame you Dimetrius. I’m just upset that the thing would choose such a curse rather than to do something like…I don’t know damage me physically instead. I mean…who would be so twisted to do this to someone.” He said spitting out his pacifier.

“No idea but let’s not dwell on it. I know it will sound strange but why don’t we make the best of the situation. We know you were wanting to experiment with them why not try the other aspects that make diapers fun for people.” Jade said touching Dimetrius’s hand to heal the cut.

“Like what?” he said sniffing.

“Well like why don’t you have Dimetrius show you how to relax and enjoy acting like a toddler or a baby for a bit. If you focus on the things that are GOOD about a situation the bad parts seem less humiliating. Go on you two try and relax and be babies for a while and Crystal and I can clean the weapons while you do so. We will change you both when you need it.” She said patting his bottom firmly but very gently.

“I guess so…what kind of stuff do you have that we can do Dimetrius?” He said looking over at him again.

“Well I still got those color sticks and parchment we could draw pictures. I also have a few soft toys in the bag that came with it I haven’t touched but one of them as I had taken to sleeping with it when I was home or with Crystal in the inn.” He replied opening the bag and getting both the coloring supplies out and the soft stuffed animals which included a tiger, a monkey, a dog, a dolphin and a goat.

Seeing the dolphin and monkey Kalabad reached for them slowly and seeing Dimetrius give the nod picks them both up hugging them. Smiling Dimetrius picked up the tiger and dog and laid on his stomach and started making them rawr and bark at each other as if they are carrying on a conversation and occasionally say something himself giggling. Kalabad Kind of understanding started trying to do it himself with clicks and squeeks from the dolphin and oooh ooh eee eee aaah aaah’s from the monkey.

Smiling the girls set about cleaning the weapons as the two boys played and was quite amused when halfway through their work the two fell asleep snuggling the toys. Keeping quiet they moved the coloring items off the bed and cover the boys up before finishing their work and going about doing things to pass the time till they made port the next morning including giving the boys some special baby treatment after they had woken up and been changed.

The following day went pretty much the same as the first day back on the ship though for fun the four decided to try fishing off the side of the ship as they went just to see if the ocean had returned to normal yet and were surprised when Dimetrius hooked and landed an adult Bluefin tuna on his own. As they took it to the kitchen to be cleaned and prepped for storage in the cold box he said, “You know how some people always say they got a fish THIIIIIS big.” He held his hands out to the size of the tuna. “At least when I say it it’s true.” He finished causing them to laugh.

Late that afternoon the ship docked at the harbor and the four helped load the crates onto the crane loader to get them to the docks and then with the help of the dock workers loaded them into a pair of large wagons attached to a team of four horses each then smiling Dimetrius said to the workers, “Feel free to keep those discs they have a permanency spell on them. Just remember to keep them no more than a foot from a surface under them or they will vanish. Should make your moving things easier.” And then he and the others took the cargo up to the castle personally.

Two hours later King Gorgash, smiling widely says, “Welcome back my heroes. I take it you were able to stop the source of the trouble given you have taken back our items?” 

“That we have your highness the creature responsible was an Aboleth Mage, he was quite powerful and had magic that is only rumored of. Despite my best efforts to stop it he managed to curse one of us seriously and it cannot be broken without the blood of the Aboleths’ mistress.” Dimetrius said feeling ashamed.

“That is sad news and I hope you find her soon and the curse is not too inconvenient. I am not so knowledgeable about said things but I do know that if anyone can find and destroy her dark influence in this world it is you four. Now down to the business of your rewards. You have saved my kingdom twice now at great risk to yourselves. And after much discussion and debate with my council we have agreed that if you should accept it you shall all be given honorary knighthoods. You would have the privilege of a permanent room in the castle as a knight that would have all you need to be comfortable, a salary of 10 gold every 2 weeks and you would get discounts at all the shops and services in the kingdom. If you don’t care for this or feel awkward taking it you may request something of equal value instead.” The king said sadly at first but them getting upbeat to try and cheer the mood.

“Thank you my liege but I must decline. I can’t rightly take the knighting due to personal reasons. If it is possible I would like nothing more than maybe a room here without a fee and free access to the magical library so that I might get stronger as a sorcerer and learn new spells to aid my friends.” Dimetrius said kindly. 

“Done, you shall have a room in the mages wing and free access to the library and store rooms for spell ingredients. And your friends will be allowed to come and go freely to visit with you.” The king said.

“I have too many responsibilities as is my king. I will continue to aid the kingdom should you need me but the children I care fore need me more than I want this honor. Instead I have a request to make. While below the sea we came across a creature of legend. However she was only a toddler and was of help to us and I wish to give her a present. Would it be possible to craft a tea set out of gems and then ask Aram to make them say…as big in height as your castle’s highest tower?” Jade said kindly.

“That…is rather big…what was it you came across that could use it so large?” he asked stunned.

“She was a toddler Kraken my king. Her mother was much larger and if she had wanted to could have destroyed this country and us without a thought. There is no way the child was responsible for sinking the ships she was forced by the Aboleth to do so and has already been punished by her mother for doing so.” Jade replied.

“Done. I shall have the items ready within the week and you may use Aram to enlarge them when you deliver them. I have no ship large enough to transport them at the size you requested. What about you two?” the king said smiling at Crystal and Kalabad.

“Well…We could both due with some better armor or weapon…is there something you could do for that?” Crystal asked with Kalabad’s nod.

“I shall give you a script each for the weapon and armor shop to get no more than 100,000 gold value of enchantment on your current or new gear each. That should be sufficient to help you increase your efficacy in battle don’t you agree?” He said smiling.

“Yes your highness that shall be more than enough. Thank you.” they both said bowing low. 

Walking over to a small table the king pulls out a drawer and retrieves a quill, parchment and inkpot and begins to write upon it in a very loopy script. As he did so the four started talking to each other quietly trying to help Kalabad and Crystal figure out what to get for their armor and or weapons when suddenly Kalabad was hit with a wave of very cold water as a young boy in shorts and shirt, though of obvious high quality, ran by as a guard chased after him.

“Little creep I’ll fix you.” Kalabad muttered as he used the control water effect of the ring to pull most of the water off him and to make the boys water shooting toy fly up out of his hand and douse him instead.  
Grinning wickedly Kalabad said to the boy who had fallen on his butt as he was drenched with his own toy and water, “Not so funny when you’re the one getting soaked is it?”

“Kalabad …you idiot.” Dimetrius and Jade muttered under their breath as the guard came over.

“Sir did you just use magic inside the castle outside of the mages wing?” The guard said. 

“Yeah but he started the water fight.” Kalabad said.

“Kalabad that may be true but magic outside the mages wing in the castle grounds is prohibited. Ignorance of the law is no exception. You will have to accept the punishment. As does my son.” The king glared at the prince, “For breaking the rule about his aquatic toys indoors.” 

“Wait what punishment I didn’t do anything but use a water control spell on my ring to get him back. He not only got me soaking wet but…but he ruined the…the…” Kalabad said as he was taken by the arm over to a chair next to the king who had already pulled down the prince’s pants and diaper.

“I understand what he did Kalabad but the rules are the rules. If I let one person off for ignorance of the rule or even just because he did right by me the whole punishment and reward system with the laws and rules would collapse. You will only be getting ten strokes unlike my son who has acquired his third punishment of the day which has earned him fifty. Once you have been punished the guard will take you to the room off the hall to help you get dried off and into a fresh one.” The king said before starting his son’s spanking with his bare hand.

The guard pulling down Kalabad’s pants and now soaked diaper says, “I’m sorry I have to do this son,” and bends him over his knee before delivering 10 firm swats that were just enough to hurt but not enough to cause harm.

Once he finished he picked up Kalabad like a child and carried him to the closest room that had a changing supply in it which happened to be the main floor baths and helped him strip out of the clothes and get dried off despite his wailing from the pain in his backside. Once he was clean the guard laid him on the changing table there and proceeded to rub some post spanking cream into Kalabad’s backside saying, “Almost done lad. Just tell me how thick and what color of diaper you would like to have.”

Sniffing hard as the cream instantly started soothing the pain he thinks for a moment and says, “d…do you have y…a…a brown like my clothes? Maybe…um…maybe this thick when unfolded.” He held his thumb and forefinger 2 inches apart.

“Aye there is a couple of them that color and thickness.” He said getting one out and unfolding it before sliding it in place. “That rash seems a bit odd…how long has it been there lad?” he said as he got out some diaper rash cream and powder.

“Um…I think 2 days…maybe 4 we’ve been under the sea for 2 days and I had a special swim diaper on that cleaned itself and me off when I went…we’ve only been above the sea for 2 days.” He replied with a few hiccups from his body adjusting to his post spanking state.

“I’m going to use a special diaper rash cream then if it’s been there for two days. I don’t see it showing any signs of having faded yet.” He replied putting up the regular cream and getting out a jar that was red and had the words “maximum strength with anti-fungal and anti-parasitic.” on it. Then he proceeded to coat the rash with the cream before shaking a good amount of powder onto his front and backside before he closed up the diaper.

“Do any of your friends have a spare shirt or pants for you? Otherwise you’re going to need to go around with just this on till they are dry.” He asked kindly.

“D…Dimetrius might. His Diaper Bag of Holding had more than just diapers and changing items in it when it was created he might have left most of the stuff in there.” Kalabad replied trying to calm his hiccups by closing his eyes tight and breathing deeply.

“Alright I’ll be right back…you look to be about a medium like him.” He said going to talk with Dimetrius. A couple minutes later he came back and said, “Lucky you he not only had a shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts but he also had them in the same brown as your current diaper.” And he helped Kalabad get them on and the shorts tied snugly before he bagged the soaked clothing and folded the rapier and flintlock bandolier belt onto the top of it.

Going out to the main hall the two hear a loud *SMACK* as the king said “FIFTY. Now you go over to the hero you soaked and you apologize to him right now mister.” He then put his son on the floor and pulled up his diaper and pants despite their being soaked and turned him towards Kalabad and the guard. 

Running over the prince got on his knees and put his face on the floor bawling and saying with sporadic stutters. “I…I’m s…so…sowwy I…I…I s…sow…sowked you a…and…and go…got yow…yow d…diapey w…wuined.”

A bit sorry for the prince for having gotten five times as many smacks…all of which looked like they hurt twice as bad as each one of his Kalabad kneels down gingerly and lift’s the princes’ face up with a gentle hand. “I forgive you little guy. I know you were just trying to have fun but we all need to listen to the rules or we get in trouble don’t we?” he said kindly.

Nodding the prince sniffs and tries to control his bawling as best he could saying, “y…yes I…I d…deserbed all…all my…my pank…panking…I so…sowwy.” Then he got up and ran back to his father and hugged his leg bawling his apologies to him in it.

After a bit of consoling his son the king handed him off to the guard who took the prince and his toy up to his room. Then he went back to the table and quickly finished the vouchers and made his signature on them and went back to the group with them and handed them to Crystal and Kalabad. “I do apologize for that. He is a good kid but he is still quite young for our kind. Despite being 14 he would be considered only 7 or 8 by human standards. He won’t even start his knighthood training for another 3 years yet as he won’t be big enough before then. Now I hope you all have a great day. Dimetrius when you are ready to return I shall have a room already prepared for you or in the process of being prepared. Just ask the footman by the door to show you the way to it. Good day you four.” The king said walking away up the staircase and whistling a tune as he grabbed his left wrist with his right hand behind his back.

Hugging Kalabad Dimetrius and Jade say, “I’m sorry that happened. We didn’t think the prince would be playing one of his pranks again and didn’t have time to warn you about the no magic rule. Let’s go get you some new armor or whatever you wanted to have and then we can split the money treasure up and have some dinner.” 

Nodding Kalabad says, “Yeah okay…But you got to tell me and Crystal all the rules here that you think are pertinent now because I am not going to be happy if I get spanked again for something I did when I didn’t know the rules.”

“We’ll tell you all we can think of at dinner.” Dimetrius promised.

Going down to the armor shop which also doubled as the tailor for those who chose to not wear actual armor the four walk in and see an old Dwarven male, a beautiful Elven female and what looked to be a girl that was a cross between the two behind the counter. The Dwarf was manning the counter itself while the elven female worked on a very fine chainmail shirt and the girl manned the forge with a skill that showed she knew what she was doing.

“Welcome to Gembeards Amory and Tailorshop. Stormbrew Gembeard’s my name. What can I do fer ya kids?” The old Dwarf said as he took a draw on his long pipe.

“Yes my friend and I could use some new cloth armor with some magical properties in them can you do that?” Crystal said kindly.

“Nope I can’t…but the misses can.” He said teasing. “I only man the money box and sales anymore. Hand’s aren’t as steady as they used ter be.” He added at their looks.

Coming around the counter the Elven woman says, “Maylin Gembeard at your service. Let’s start with getting your measurements if you don’t mind.” She then got a stool, measuring tape, and a bit of parchment and a pot of ink and quill out to write down her notes. “Ladies first up on the stool please and remove your over clothes. You two turn round. You too dear.” She said setting things up and causing Crystal to blush and the boys to turn round. 

Disrobing down to her undergarments Crystal got on the stool which put her at eye level with the elf woman which put her at least at six and a half feet tall. Whipping the tape around Crystals neck, waist, thigh, bicep, chest across her breasts at the nipple, and then down the arms and both legs both inside and outside the leg to be sure of her numbers, she writes down everything then crooks her finger at Crystal to bend down so she could whisper. Once she had Crystal’s ear next to her mouth she said in a voice so quite that nothing short of Crystal could hear, “I can see the magical aura of those failed swim diapers I made on your waist. If you want I can add a bit of room to the crotch and butt to let you wear a moderately thick diaper without notice.” 

Blushing hard but keeping her face away from Jade, Crystal whispers equally quiet. “Yes please,” then stands back up. 

“Alright then you’re done lass go ahead and get dressed. Whomever is next disrobe and get on the stool.” She said. Blushing hard Kalabad took off his shirt and with a huge hate for the place at that moment his pants revealing the thick diaper on his waist. After he was measured in the same rapid and exact way Crystal had been she bends him down and whispers, “Do you want extra room in the pants to let you wear those at an inch thicker without being seen?” 

He nods and blushes hard then says, “Yes please.”

Nodding she says, “Alright off the stool and go ahead and redress. Now do you two have a style of clothing you want or a particular coloring? Also take a look at this book here to find out what kind of enchantments you want on the gear.” 

“Um…If you need I can leave my current one here but…can you do swashbuckler styled armor? And I think I already know what kind of enchantments I want. I have wanted them forever but never had the money for it.” Kalabad said as Crystal flipped through the book looking the spells over and their costs. 

“I’ve never done it before so I would need your clothes to work by. And what enchantments do you want lad?” she said inking her quill and preparing to write on his notes.

“I want Heavy Fortification, umm…the strongest level of protection from arrows you can give me, and if there is enough left on this voucher from the king I would like it to be indestructible so that I don’t have heavy costs to repair it or the spells on it.” Kalabad said showing her the voucher. 

Writing down the spells he wanted she says, “That would take the total with the cost of materials and labor exactly up to that, the strongest I can give ya for that spell is up to 100 projectiles negated per day. Do you want the colors to be the exact same as the ones you are showing me for the pattern?” she asked.

“Yes please.” He replied putting the bag with his clothes on the floor but keeping his bandolier. “I’m sorry about them being wet we had a little mishap at the castle…the prince…” Kalabad said.

“Say no more dear, we know he can be a handful and a trouble maker at times. Miss have you decided on what you wanted?” She replied.

“Hunh…oh yes I would like Greater Shadow, Greater Moves Silently, Heavy Fortification and I would also like the indestructible effect on mine. Do you have the knowledge on how to do clothing like this?” Crystal said waving a hand at her Ninja outfit.

“Sorry dear no. If you need to change into something else there is a fitting room right there.” Maylin said pointing to the dressing room next to Crystal. 

Going inside with her bag Crystal quickly switched out to her pajama shorts and shirt which was all she had and hands over her folded outfit to the woman saying, “I would like them the same color please.” 

Nodding the woman pinned the order notes to each set of clothes and says, “Hand my husband the vouchers he will give you both a receipt to show that they were paid for when you come pick them up…give me about three days and I should be done. If you have a place here in the city I can contact you I will send word if they’re ready sooner.” 

“I’m staying at the orphanage with Jade as her guest.” Kalabad said handing over the voucher and taking the receipt.

“I’m usually at the Dancing Raven Inn but sometimes I sleep outside the city in the fields when I’m feeling crowded. So I’ll either be at the inn, or you can send word to Dimetrius here at the castle since I’m usually with him otherwise since he is my apprentice.” Crystal said giving Dimetrius a noogie before taking her receipt.

“Right so just give me your names and I’ll get started as soon as I finish that chainmail armor I’m working on.” She said kindly.

“Kalabad.” He said smiling.

“Crystal.” She replied.

“Right then have a nice day you four. And don’t be afraid to come by again for more items.” Maylin said writing their names on the bottom of the notes.

Once the four left the shop they went right for the Dancing Raven Inn and got a table. Then after dividing up the money from the chests they found the four ordered a large dinner, with a new beverage that had just become a craze in the city called “soda” and Dimetrius and Jade proceeded to tell their two companions all the rules and laws in the city and castle grounds they could remember and the punishments for breaking said rule or law.”


	8. Chapter 8: Hark Hear the Wails…

[“Friday 39th day of summer. Several weeks have passed since my friends and I returned from the briny depths of the sea having disposed of the creature plaguing the shipping lanes. In that time, I have spent many an hour in the library here in the mages wing of the castle researching spells and attempting to build an artifact for use only by those who prove worthy. As a sorcerer my powers have grown in leaps and bounds. I purposefully decided to drop the spell magic missile as while it was useful against the Aboleth Mage I felt that the spell I found in these tomes was more useful. I took Endure elements instead and with a little reading found that permanency can work in combination with it so now I can go out in temperatures up to -50 Fahrenheit to 140. I also learned several other spells but will not discuss them here.   
The Ungodly Luck Blade we acquired from the black lady had recharged and I used my second wish on it. Normally when one creates magical items they not only need to know the spells that they are putting into, or have the spell in scroll form, but must also make a rather large power sacrifice to do so. Thanks to the wish I no longer have to sacrifice the power I only need the spells known or on hand and have to still pay for the cost of materials to craft the items. This will prove useful when I go to make my friends presents for midwinter festival.   
Speaking of my friends Crystal has stopped by every day almost and when she hasn’t been tutoring me in the art of the Shinobi, she and I have been spending time locked in my rather spacious rooms here taking turns having baby time or even so far as playing the role of a baby together and changing each other as needed. I still can’t believe Jade hasn’t found out Crystal is padded. I hope she doesn’t find out later when the four of us are supposed to go camping in the forest for fun.”] Dimetrius wrote into his private Journal.   
“Come in.” he said as there was a knock on the door. 

“Hey Dimetrius you ready for our camping trip into the forest?” Crystal said as she walked in.

“Hey sis, I’m almost ready I was just updating my personal journal and I needed to change first but after that I’m good. You going to…you know…while were there?” He asked grinning sheepishly.

“I have to admit it is getting more comfortable wearing them and I was considering it but I’m out of them at the moment and haven’t had a chance to get to that store without Jade seeing me.” Crystal replied grinning back and going over to his bed to get his diaper bag out and set things about so she could change him.

“Well you can use some from my bag there if you wanted to but I don’t think I have your preferred brand, thickness or color in it.” He replied blushing as he got up and pulled his sorcerer robes up past his chest before lying down so she could change him without ruining his robes.

“Thanks but if you go with me we can get the ones I like and stuff them in your bag so if Jade sees us coming out she may think we are getting something for you. It was good of the shop to offer to refund the money or replace the swim diapers we bought with the properly working ones but I don’t think it would be fun walking around in a swim diaper all day every day even if it did clean itself and the wearer. I kind of like the softer and more babyish feel to the disposables.” She said as she quickly removed his diaper and cleaned him off. 

He giggled at that and smiled cutely as she moved the used diaper away. “Wait. I don’t want the normal thickness one today…can you put the super thick one on me please. My bottom is a bit sore and the thick one helps me sit.” He asked blushing.

“Alright but why is your butt sore?” she replied putting the blue normal diaper back in the diaper bag and grabbing the top most pack of the extremely thick ones to pull out and open.

“I…kinda got in trouble with Aram…I accidentally made his experiment in his rooms go wrong when my own experiment exploded in my face. It was an accident but he gave me twenty swats for not following the rules of the mages wing and informing him and the other’s if I am about to do a dangerous experiment that could affect their own works.” He said feeling ashamed.

Sliding the diaper under him and powdering him up Crystal says, “Well you deserved it then. That is a basic rule for any area with magical workings.” 

Once she had him sealed up in the extra thick diaper and was rolling up the used one with the wipes he says, “I know sis I’m sorry. I was just so excited that I was so close to a breakthrough that I didn’t think. You sure you don’t want one of my diapers to wear while we go shopping for your own for the trip and past?”

“No thanks I’m good for now. Besides the last one I borrowed from you was too big. You’re just slightly bigger hipped than me if you hadn’t noticed and your diapers don’t fit me right.” She said as he got his diaper bag and his normal traveling bag up which had some items he was working on as well as his helmet and ninja gear and the sword she had loaned him until he could get his own made or a new magical staff.  
“Alright just checking, let’s see…diaper bag, normal bag with my ninja stuff and my helmet, money purse…hmmm…I seem to be forgetting something but what…OH duh.” He said clapping his forehead before picking up his staff. With a small whistling tune, he used to summon it, a small black raven soared down from the rafters and landed on his shoulder.

“Yes master Dimetrius?” It asked in clear common.

“Archimedes my friends and I are going to the forest to camp for a few days. Will you look in on the king for me once in a while and if he has urgent business for us bring us the message yourself as you are faster than the runners here?” Dimetrius said stroking the bird with a gentle finger.

“Yes master Dimetrius.” It said before taking off through the palace to deliver the message to the king and stay with him instead of just peeking in once in a while.

“I’ll never get over that bird talking common like it is normal.” Crystal said with a shudder before she took Dimetrius by the hand like a toddler and popped the pacifier pinned to his robes into his mouth.  
As they walk Dimetrius asks, “So…I was wondering if you would make a bet with me.” 

“What kind of bet?” She replied watching him close. 

“Nothing too big just something that could have a fun outcome for us. The rules are simple. You pick a card out of a pack of playing cards. I’ll buy a brand-new pack at the general store. If I guess what the card is after you put it back in the deck and shuffle it I get to choose the penalty. If I can’t you get to choose my penalty? Interested?” He said grinning.

“Tell me what penalty you want to put on me. I’m not going to agree to a blind one.” She said guessing his game.

“Awe you’re no fun. Alright, if I do it you have to openly wear them this weekend and not hide them from Jade. You can change yourself when you go but you got to have it in the open.” He said scuffing his foot as they crossed the palace grounds.

Staying silent all the way to the diaper supply shop Crystal looks over the diapers in her size and purses her lips. “If I do this I will need some that are extra comfortable…Especially if Jade does what I think she might do.” 

Coming over the shopkeeper asks, “Need some help finding the right one dear?” 

Blushing Crystal says, “What would you recommend for someone about my size, who has been spanked thoroughly?”

“Well we have a couple styles dear. These here are very thick and will make it easier to sit after such an occurrence but also has a small healing spell built into it for a quicker heal of the area. It is also good for someone who has a mild case of diaper rash. Although these here are less thick but have a stronger healing spell and will clear up any rash that the person has in a matter of only a few changes.” She said pointing to two different brands.

Looking the two over Crystal says, “I’ll take two bags of the thicker one. I also need to pick up some wipes and some Lavender and Chamomile scented powder.” 

Nodding the woman pulled down two bags off the shelf with a special hook on a pole to grab the handle of the bags without hitting the plastic and tearing it then she walks behind the counter and climbs a small rolling ladder that was attached to the wall and moves over to the wipes and powder of the preferred scent pulling out a large bottle and a large pack of wipes. 

“Here you go dear, that comes to thirty gold ten silver.” She said tallying up the total on a pad before putting the wipes and powder into a small bag to make carrying it easier. 

Paying the shop keeper Crystal smiles at Dimetrius and says, “Mind if I stow these in your diaper bag little bro?” 

Shaking his head he pulls it off his back and opens it stuffing the items inside for her and says, “Of course not. It keeps our hands free by just having it all in one bag you know.” 

“Yeah I know. And I guess I can take the bet. But you will be in for a big surprise if you lose.” Crystal said grinning at him. 

“I don’t mind. So long as you don’t beat me up or blister my butt, I’m happy just to play with my sis.” Dimetrius said smiling before turning to the shop keeper. “I hate to be a bother but would you happen to have a deck of playing cards I could borrow for a moment?”

“I guess there’s no harm so long as you keep it right here where I can see it. It’s my lucky deck and I’ve yet to lose a game with it.” She said pulling out a deck of cards that looked rather old and worn.

“Alright Change of plan little brother. I won’t look at the card. I know the suits and that there are 13 cards a suit and 2 jokers in a deck. You turn your back and I’ll hand sign the card I chose to the lady here so she can be a judge of whether or not I’m lying.” Crystal said.

Nodding Dimetrius says, “Alright I guess that works.” And he turns around. 

Once his back was turned Crystal signs the king of clubs to the shopkeeper who nods and says, “Alright kid she’s ready.” 

Picking up the deck he shuffles it carefully focusing on Crystal trying to use telepathy to see what the card is and will it to the top of the deck. Stopping he revealed the top four cards all of which were kings and he says, “It was the king of…diamonds. Yes the king of diamonds.” 

“Alphabetically you were close. It was the King of clubs. Alright then hand the nice shop keeper back her deck and let me take a look in your bag. I need to see if you have what I am thinking of in there.” Crystal said as the woman nodded in confirmation of her picking the club.

Nodding Dimetrius hands his bag to her and says, “Alright you win. Got to admit was kind of interesting how I got all four kings out on top and literally narrowed it down to a one in four shot hunh?” 

“It was a nice trick you just need a bit of work laddie.” The shopkeeper said smiling as Crystal looked inside the bag.

Not seeing what she was after she says, “Alright I’ll pay for them but for the trip you’re going to go full baby and were going to put you in all pink.” 

Blanching at that Dimetrius just nods and says, “A bet is a bet, but if I may that is just mean sis.” 

The shopkeeper eyeing him over says, “I’m guessing size large for diapers and maybe extra-large for the clothing?

“Better make the diapers extra-large too. Thickest you have please.” Crystal said as Dimetrius pouted.

Nodding the woman goes over to the extra-large diapers and remembering Dimetrius’s frequency when not being tickles or spanked gets down two bags of the 4 inch while folded pink diapers and then goes over to a small room off the main one and comes back with a long pink dress that unfortunately would never hide the diaper and Dimetrius says, “No…you can give me robes, pants and shirt in pink but I draw the line at a dress.” 

“He has a point ma’am do you have any sorcerer robes in pink or just plain tunic and trousers for him?” Crystal said. 

Laughing the shop keeper says, “I’m sorry I just had to do it. That look on his face was priceless. I’ll go get him some regular pants and a shirt and tunic. Do you care of there’s wordin’ on them because I don’t got anything without that for pink?” 

“You stay put I’ll go help pick out an outfit for you.” Crystal said smiling as she followed the woman into the other room. 

Nodding Dimetrius just looked over the items on the wall nearest him and saw that they had a new line of pacifiers specifically designed for humanoids with sharp teeth like orc’s and those who showed animalistic or magical beast traits like himself. Searching them over he found the ones in his size and a few for a six month old. Getting a couple packs of the flavored ones for himself of grape, cherry, vanilla and butterscotch he also got a variety flavor pack for Aquia and decided to stop by the farm before he and Crystal caught up with Jade and Kalabad at the cabin. 

Moments later Crystal came back with four shirts and paid for them and the diapers and put them in the bag. “Not even going to let me see what phrases you picked are you?” Dimetrius said with a fake pout going up to the shop keeper and paying for the pacifiers.

“Nope, It’s a surprise. I take it you want to stop by your parents stand or the farm before we head to the cabin and meet up with Jade and Kalabad?” Crystal said waving goodbye to the shopkeeper as she and Dimetrius left.

“Yeah I haven’t seen them in a couple weeks and I remembered Aquia needed new dummies as she keeps puncturing the ones mom and dad had from when I was a baby. Figured I could be a good big brother and help her out with these.” He said showing her the pack and that it stated it was puncture proof.

“That is very nice. I saw them on the way up to the castle to get you they should still be at the stand.” She replied.

“Good that saves me the energy of flying us there.” He said laughing as they walked briskly.

A short time later they saw his mother and father packing up the wagon with the unsold fruit and vegetables. Hearing a light trilling whistle, the two see Aquia in the back in her safety chair and wave at her making her trill again causing their parents to look up at her and then in the direction she was looking and waving and smile.

“Well I never thought we would see you again. You finally coming out of your studies for a while?” His father teased lightly.

“Well to tell the truth Crystal, Jade, Kalabad and I were about to go camping in the woods in a cabin Jade owns. I was hoping to catch you before you left the market today because I got something for Aquia and I wanted to see how you were doing.” Dimetrius replied blushing at the tease. 

“Oh that is nice of you what did you get her?” Sapphire Wind said smiling.

“I got her some flavored puncture proof pacifiers. Figured she could use them since she keeps breaking the ones you had been getting her. They were just released today according to the shelf they were on.” He said handing the pack to her.

“That was very nice of you son. C’mere and give your old man a hug.” His father said holding his arms out.

Smiling Dimetrius hugged him and said, “I also have some good news for you regarding the crops papa. At least partially good news as once my task for him is over Crystal and I are going back to her home remember.”

“Oh and what would that be.” His parents asked together as his mother popped the vanilla pacifier into Aquia’s mouth. 

“I have learned the spell to control the weather. Next few planting seasons if I’m here I can give the crops the perfect amount of sun and rain for some nice and big produce.” He said smiling.

“NO.” his father said harshly causing Dimetrius and Crystal to jump a bit and Aquia to start crying. 

“But…but I thought this would be helpful pa.” Dimetrius said confused and scared.

“I know you mean well son but keep your magic weather away from my crops. I am not going to cheat to make good produce. We are not so hard up for money that we have to resort to using a crutch to make our crops come in.” He said firmly. 

Looking crushed like a child who had been told there was going to be no midwinter gifts that year Dimetrius started walking off feeling like shit. All he wanted to do was help his family and his father treated his offer like it was something vile.

Holding up her hand to make Crystal hush and to signal for her husband and Crystal to stay put Sapphire Wind walked over to Dimetrius and takes him out of hearing range of them and she says, “Sweetie look at me. Your father doesn’t hate you and doesn’t want you to feel bad for offering to help but you need to understand something. We hadn’t gotten to the point in our magic lessons for you to know this but if you know spells that powerful now you need to listen and listen closely.” 

Rubbing at his eyes trying to fight off the tears he says, “What’s the point? If I can’t be of help to those that matter most to me, I might as well use my most powerful spell to cause me to forget all my magic except for my natural racial ones and those of my items.” 

Putting a hand on his chin she turns it up to her face and says, “Because the spell you are talking about is one of the spells that have a backlash effect. When you use magic to affect the very fabric of time, space and nature itself you are dealing with a primal force. No matter what you may be doing it for, good or ill, the spell will always cause an effect of equal magnitude of the opposite side of the scale somewhere else in the world. Remember when you were little and I told you about the time I turned a human dragon hunter into a tree? Well that spell caused a tree somewhere in the world to turn into a human and that was a small spell on the scale. The spell you mentioned can cause catastrophic events to happen somewhere if you are not careful with the size, and power that you pour into it.”

“So why should I keep the spell, you just said yourself mama that it can cause something bad in another part of the world.” He asked sniffing as she hugged him to her chest.

“Because sweetie sometimes you may need magic of that caliber to help those in need. Don’t forget the spell dear just be careful how you use it. Your pap and I may not want the spell right now but if the farmlands here end up in a drought then you would be most welcome to come assist us because then you would be doing not just us but the entire country good. Can you see the difference?” she said petting his head as he sniffed and started having a silent cry. 

After a bit Dimetrius pulls away from his mom and says, “I understand the difference. He didn’t have to yell at the start though. I thought he was going to swat me when he did.” 

“Honey you know we don’t spank unless you really earn it. Now, give mama a kiss then you run along with your friend and enjoy your camping trip.” She said hugging him again and giving him a kiss on the cheek.  
Nodding he kissed her cheek back and waved for Crystal to come over as his mom went back to the wagon. “You alright bro?” she asked quietly.

“I will be. I was just really scared when he yelled no. He…he only ever did it like that when I was younger and was about to get…about to get my butt handed to me. And the way he talked down about learning that spell…mama is right about what she said but he could have been more grateful that I was willing to sacrifice my time and energy to learn a spell so powerful that it could help him with the farm.” He replies as they walk and exit the city at the closest drawbridge.

“I agree but you know at the same time he wasn’t really being mean, he just was trying to impress upon you that it was an, while appreciated, unwanted kind of help. Farmers are a very proud people when it comes to the produce and services they provide to an area and sometimes it’s hard for them to accept help of a magical nature. Especially if they have no trace of magic themselves.” She said hugging him about the shoulders as they walk.

“I know. Dad always was proud of his work and he never liked it when I came up with ways to do things easier and more effectively when I was a kid. He used to say, “When you have your own land you can farm it how you like son but so long as I’m breathing, I want it done the way I was trained by my father and his father before him.” I just hoped he would be willing to loosen up now that he is getting on in years and NEEDS the help you know. Whatever I’ll just continue doing what I need to and let him be proud of me in his own way.” Dimetrius said before picking up the pace.

“If you feel up to it we can fly to the forest. It seems a shame to waste such a beautiful day and you know flying always cheers you up.” She said petting his back. 

Smiling he says, “Yeah…yeah let’s fly. I used a permanency spell on it the last time I cast it so I can fly any time now. Here put my bag on your back and you know what to do.” He handed her the diaper bag.

Taking the bag, she slung the strap over her shoulder and neck in a cross body hold then she hugged Dimetrius from behind tight. “Alright ready.” She said.

Thinking hard he starts to float up a bit until he was fifty feet up then he leaned forward so he was perfectly horizontal and started flying and enjoying the feeling of the wind in his face as Crystal laughed enjoying the sensation herself.

After an hour of flight Dimetrius floats down softly over the clearing where the cabin was and rotating so he was vertical again he pat Crystals hands as he touched down and says, “Thanks for the suggestion I feel loads better big sis.” 

“Well it’s about time you two showed up. Somebody forget the time and get lost in another magical tome again?” Jade said teasingly as she walked out of the cabin wearing an apron over her clothes covered in flour.

“No I was just writing in my journal and then I stopped by the store to get some new pacifiers. I seem to ruin them as fast as the princes’ puppy ruins slippers. Got some new ones that are made special for those with sharp teeth and I got a pack to give to Aquia and talked with my parents for a bit before we came.” Dimetrius said accepting his bag back.

“Ah well Kalabad and I are just working on baking some cookies if you two want to help, though you can put your stuff in your room first if you want. It’s down the hallway in the back on the right side. You and Crystal will have separate beds but it’s the same room.” Jade said leading them inside and pointing to the hallway.

“Thanks mama Jade. We’ll go put our stuff up and then come help.” Dimetrius said with Crystal’s nod of approval.

“Yes, baking is always fun.” She said trotting off with him.

Once they got to the room Crystal shuts the door behind them and says, “Alright robes off little bro and let’s get you changed into the pink shirts and your pink diaper.” 

Nodding Dimetrius sets the bag on the bed and pulls out the pink diapers and the stack of shirts without looking then gets the powder and wipes as well, since he had soaked himself in flight, and strips off his robes so he was only in the diaper she had changed him into at the palace.

Cleaning him up quickly Crystal put him in the thick pink diaper and giggled at how it spread his legs apart and would obviously make him waddle as he walked and pulling out the first shirt from the stack and slips it over his head looking down at the writing he turned a shade of purple from the blush as he read, “pouty princess…really sis?” 

“Yes you are the pouty princess today. Tomorrow or if you get it too dirty is something cuter. But you best be careful NOT to get it too dirty or I’ll paddle you and make your bottom match your diaper and shirt.” She said helping him stand up and walking him in front of her to go help with the baking tossing the diaper in the bin on the way.

As they get to the kitchen Jade looks up and bursts out laughing causing Kalabad to look up from the bowl he was mixing batter in and he started to laugh too. “Dimetrius what is all this about?” Jade choked out amused.

“I lost a bet with big sis. She got to choose my penalty and she decided I be pinkified the whole weekend.” He said blushing sitting on a stool and waiting to be given something to do. 

“Don’t forget you have to be full baby mode so no more talking unless Jade or I tell you and no big kid food.” Crystal said moving him to a chair at the table and pushing it in all the way.

“Oh now this will be an interesting weekend. Does this mean I am the “older brother” now?” Kalabad asked laughing.

“Only if you don’t earn a punishment and get downgraded to his level Kalabad.” Jade said smiling.

“Yeah I’ll avoid that if you don’t mind.” Kalabad said sarcastically.

Smiling Dimetrius watched the three making cookies but quickly got bored and started tapping the table rhythmically and in a clear way saying he was bored. 

“Sounds like someone is bored, Crystal will you do me a favor and open the bottom drawer next to the sink? I keep color sticks and paper in there for when I bring a few kids here once in a while from the orphanage for some more personal raising that they need. Dimetrius you can color while we make the cookies but if you draw on the table, you’re going to get it.” Jade said causing Crystal get out the large box of sticks and a few pieces of paper.

Putting the items in front of Dimetrius Crystal says, “There you go little brother. Now have fun.” She then gave him a small tickle making him giggle before he poured the box of sticks out onto a clean sheet of paper and starting to doodle with them on another.

As the other three made the cookies they talked about what they had been up to since they had talked a month before. Jade relayed that she was doing a great deal of training with her main assistant for her to take over as the matron of the orphanage. Kalabad admitted to having done a bit of fencing with some of the guards with their permission and was happy to say he so far was undefeated in the practice courts against them. Crystal informed them that apart from training Dimetrius in his ninja abilities she had been doing odd jobs to help people around the city and refused the payment as she didn’t really want to take any payment for those who looked as if they couldn’t afford to pay to begin with.

“That is very noble of you Crystal, giving of yourself to aid those who need it. If you weren’t a ninja and dedicated to that life, I would say you had the spirit of a TRUE daughter of Pelor.” Jade said smiling as she popped the trays of cookies into the oven and started the cleanup process.

“Well that is a sign of benevolence isn’t it? And Benevolence or Jin is one of the six pillars of the code of bushido. It is part of me heart, body, and soul.” Crystal said helping wash the dishes as Kalabad walked over and sat next to Dimetrius.

“Mind if I do some coloring too Dimetrius?” Kalabad asked.

Smiling Dimetrius let out a babyish “beh.” And put the paper that had the crayons on it so they wouldn’t get on the table between him and Kalabad.

Smiling Jade and Crystal let out a soft chuckle each at how cute it sounded and quickly finished the dishes. “Well Jade, since Dimetrius is a baby all weekend, do you have any “age appropriate” food we can feed him?” Crystal asked as the boys colored.

“Actually, I do. It’s in some special jars in the cupboard there. I have fruit, veggies and some meat-based baby foods and my cold box that I keep things like milk in is always stocked with bottles full of enriched milk to help the toddlers and younger ones get stronger bones and their vitamins.” Jade said as Dimetrius let out a disgruntled “ugh” at being made to eat baby food.

Kalabad listening shook his head saying, “I agree that does sound nasty.” 

“Actually, it’s quite good. I taste all the baby food I make because I won’t feed something to my children that I would never eat myself now let’s see here. It’s just about dinner time from the looks of the sky so we need to decide what to have for dinner. Dimetrius you can speak for this part. Name three fruits, three vegetables and choose either beef, pork, chicken or fish for the kind of baby food. I will choose your dinner from those. As for you and Kalabad Crystal what would you two like?” Jade said drying her hands off and clapping hard twice to make the balls that floated near the ceiling light up by magic and give a solid steady light to see by in the dying light.

Thinking hard Dimetrius says, “Um…fruits I like are cherries, grapes, and strawberries if I can only choose three, veggies I hate. I really hate veggies can’t I just have double fruit instead?” He had a bit of a whine at the end as he really did hate vegetables.

“No dear now pick. I have spinach, corn, beets, carrots, eggplant, turnips, and rhubarb.” Jade said firmly.

“Fine I guess corn and carrots are okay. I can’t stand the others though please no make me eat them. As for a meet beef and fish are my preferences.” He said putting down the color stick and looking at his picture of a blue duck with purple feet and a green bill.

“I guess burgers would be good.” Kalabad said and Crystal nodded in agreement.

“Alright then who wants to make them while I give Dimetrius his dinner?” Jade said.

“I will.” Crystal said finishing drying the dishes, “Just tell me where the meat is and what pan you want me to use.” She added.

“Meat and cheese are in the cold box there and any pan you want that’s under the stove.” Jade said as she got out a jar of grapes, cherries, corn, carrots and one each of fish and one of beef and then getting a large bottle out of the cold box after Crystal moved and brought the lot over to Dimetrius and then retrieved a soft-headed spoon to scoop up the food and feed him with. 

Getting to work Crystal says, “You want to help Kalabad or you going to color some more?” 

“Color.” He said his tongue out between his teeth as he concentrated on his picture. 

Dimetrius submitting to the feeding decided that if he had to be a baby this weekend he might as well do it right and started eating the food and purposefully drooling some of it back out onto his chin like a regular baby did which made Jade smile and scoop it off his chin quickly putting it back in his mouth as he swallowed the rest.

An hour later Dimetrius was holding his bottle drinking it slowly as the three ate their burgers. Looking over at the cookies cooling on the stove top as Jade had pulled them out a few minutes before. Smiling at the delicious smell he continued to drink and kicked his feet a little knowing he wouldn’t get a cookie if he asked too soon or acted up. By the time the three had finished their burgers the cookies were cooled just enough to eat and scooping two for each of them off the tray she says, “Perfect warmth and softness. Alright two each tonight the rest are for tomorrow.” And then she passed out the cookies to each of them.  
“Thanks Jade.” Crystal said smiling.

“Thank you m…Jade.” Kalabad, almost calling her mama again and still trying to fight the mental effects of the curse, said.

“Ah booo bee bab pbbbbbt.” Dimetrius said making cute grabby hands at her before she got to him.

“And the same to you cutie.” She said giving him his cookies which he held onto like a squirrel with a nut and nibbled them in the same manner before he drained his bottle of the little milk left.

After he finished he rubbed his eyes in a tired manner half pretending to be sleepy and Crystal actually feeling a bit tired herself got up having finished her cookies saying, “I think someone is ready for bedtime. I’m feeling tired as well so if you don’t mind doing cleanup tonight Jade I’ll take care of breakfast dishes in the morning. Come on stinky it’s bedtime.” And she took Dimetrius by the hand and led him back to their room and closed the door. 

Once inside she walked over to the bed and whispered very quietly, “You can talk normal when were in here and act normal. You can sleep in the shirt or in your jammies. I’m going to get my jammies on then if you ask nicely you can help me change into one.”

Smiling Dimetrius says, “Okay. Do you want one of my pacifiers I have left from the bag being created…I think I still have two green ones but I hate mint so I never used them.” 

“I still got the first one I bought but if you want to hold onto them, I’ll take one when this one dies.” She said getting out her green pajamas and showing him the pacifier, she still kept with them. 

Nodding he went into his bag partly and opened one of her two bags and got the powder out and waited for her to lay on her bed. Working fast and being a gentleman, he changed her into the diaper quickly and had her powdered up well enough then helped her settle her sleep pants over the diaper before putting the powder away and rubbing his hands on the inside of his shirt before stripping it off and putting on his regular footed pajamas he had taken to. “Good night big sis.” He said putting the bag on the floor and crawling under his covers.

“Goodnight little bro. Sleep well.” she replied crawling into her bed once her pants were set as best as she could over her pants. Realizing she hadn’t asked where the bathroom was she groans and has an internal debate on whether or not to slip on her robe and go ask Jade or wait till she heard her coming up the hall and ask her by cracking the door. 

Her debate was ended when she heard just that happening and going to the door quickly she cracked it and said, “Jade I forgot to ask where the bathroom was?”

“Oh it’s just two doors down on your left dear. Is there anything else you need?” Jade replied as she opened the door to her and Kalabad’s room as the young swashbuckler sniffed having just soiled himself.  
“No was just that goodnight Jade.” Crystal said closing the door.

“Good night.” She replied going into her room and after she changed Kalabad and tossed out the diaper she tucked him into the single bed that was big enough to fit five adult half-ogres then went to wash her hands. Getting back to her room she crawled into bed and said, “Good night Kalabad. Sleep tight.” 

“G’nite mama.” He mumbled around the pacifier already half asleep as he snuggled into her side.

Halfway through the night Crystal woke up like normal and went to the restroom. Finding the door locked she waited outside it and a moment later Jade came out and muttered an “excuse me.” as she walked by.  
“’Salright.” Crystal said groggily as she walked forward and past Jade not as careful as she usually was when padded and thus crinkled rather noisily.

Jade hearing it paused in her movements and looked back quickly and swore she saw the telltale bulge in Crystal’s seat of a diaper. Crystal didn’t notice and shut the door behind her solidly and went about her business. Jade pressing her ear to the door heard the rustling of the diaper or what sounded like one before she stepped back and woke up a bit. 

Waiting for Crystal to come out Jade debated on how bad to punish Crystal for outright lying to her about wearing and for breaking the rules they had all agreed to. As Crystal opened the door Jade says, “Crystal I am very disappointed in you. I thought you were above lying. You agreed to the rule of no pants for those who were wearing diapers when were camped.” 

“Wha…I…wait how do you know I am wearing one?” She said too tired to mount a reliable lie or dodge.

“Seriously…Crystal you’re padded so thickly it shows in your seat and you crinkle when you walk. I’m sorry but you are caught in a lie and you broke a rule we all agreed to I have to punish you.” Jade said taking Crystal by the arm and taking her back into the bathroom. 

“Wait Jade I’m sorry this was my first time wearing them around camp I forgot please let me go.” Crystal said unable to pull her arm away. 

Grabbing the bar of soap for washing hands Jade says, “Open and don’t take this out till I tell you.” 

Not arguing knowing she would be in it worse Crystal opened her mouth and let Jade put the soap in. Sitting Crystal on the closed toilet lid she says, “You stay there I’ll be back. The soap is just for lying.” Then she went to her room and came back five minutes later with a paddle she kept there for the kids who were bad. “Soap out and you can spit in the sink. Then take down your pants and the diaper.” 

Whimpering knowing it was about to get painful Crystal did as she was told and says, “Jade I’m sorry, please don’t spank me.”

Pulling Crystal across her lap Jade says, “If I make an exception for you then it sets a bad example to Dimetrius and Kalabad. Ten swats is standard punishment but if you fight me you get an extra five every time I have to readjust my grip on you.” then she slid her free arm under Crystals outside arm to prevent her from putting her hand in the way and started the spanking. 

Each stroke lighting her backside on fire just as bad as it was when her mothers spanked her back-home Crystal started to yelp and then full on wail in pain and sorrow which woke the boys up and made them aware very quickly what was going on. After the tenth stroke Jade stood Crystal up and hugged her saying, “I know it hurt dear and you’re sorry. Let’s pull up your diaper now and your pajama bottoms then you go right back to bed. If you really are sorry then you will obey the rules about the diapers from now on.”

Crying hard Crystal said over and over again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” as Jade pulled up her diaper and pajama bottoms. When she had her bottoms back on over her diaper Crystal hightailed it back to her room and crawled under the covers sobbing. 

Dimetrius knowing why she was crying shut the door and then went over to Crystals bed and crawled in behind her hugging her close and whispering all the, “It’s alright’s” she could stand before falling asleep in his grip. Once she was asleep Dimetrius wiped her cheek free of the tears on it then gave her a kiss on the head before going back to his bed not wanting to risk a spanking himself for being in Crystal’s bed without her and Jade’s permission.

The following morning Crystal showed up at the breakfast table clad in just her thick diaper and her shirt eyes still bloodshot from her spanking cry the previous night. Kalabad seeing the diaper and her eyes realized he hadn’t been dreaming hearing a screaming the previous night and swallowed a lump in his throat.

“I know you both knew of her doing this and kept quiet. It is plain as the look on your face Kalabad and I heard you comforting her before she fell asleep and you got back in your bed Dimetrius. What do you have to say for yourselves?” Jade said in a disappointed voice.

“I’m sorry mama Jade. I didn’t want her to get spanked or anything and she was curious but wasn’t really sure if she should come out about them yet.” Dimetrius said ducking his head sadly in a thick pink diaper and a shirt that said “naughty princess’s get spanked” while holding a paddle from his bag having decided to bring it out since he figured Jade knew he lied about it and hid Crystal’s lie. 

“I’m sorry Jade, I should have tried to get her to tell you on our last mission harder.” Kalabad replied wearing just a dark red shirt and matching diaper not having needed a change since he had been before he went to bed.

“So you both admit to covering up a lie and not being a better friend to Crystal by not trying to get her to be honest. Kalabad you I can’t blame as much as Dimetrius as he spent the most time with her these past six weeks. Your punishment is twenty minutes in the corner and you are not allowed to act like a big boy the rest of the weekend. You will act like Dimetrius has to for his bet with crystal. Dimetrius, you however are getting fifteen swats for not only covering it up the most but also for helping her hide the evidence with your diaper bag. Come over here.” She said.

Whimpering Dimetrius walked over to her as Kalabad went to the closest corner and when he got there she took down his diaper and pulled him across her lap and administered his punishment causing him to wail in pain with each stroke after she finished she pulled his diaper back up and put him in the corner opposite Kalabad to share the remainder of his time out.

“Crystal can you help me make our breakfast and prep theirs.” Jade said putting the paddle on the table.

Nodding Crystal walked over and started cooking bacon that Jade had already pulled out and while waiting for it to be ready to flip she cracked the eggs into a bowl and whisked them with some milk to prep them for scrambling. Jade meanwhile got a pot onto the stove and started making some plain oatmeal and quickly chopped up strawberries and bananas to put into the stuff when it was thick enough to eat.

After the food was all cooked and plated Jade said, “Alright you two come sit down at the table.” 

Moving over they both sit down, Dimetrius a bit gingerly, and Crystal sitting next to Dimetrius proceeds to feed him silently as Jade feeds Kalabad his oatmeal. As the boys ate the meal was relatively silent apart from the clinks of spoons in bowls and Dimetrius sniffing every now and then trying to clear his head. Once the boys had finished Jade says, “Crystal I hope that your and their punishment doesn’t cause you to avoid wearing the diapers as it was obvious that they hid it from me because you were nervous about admitting you liked and wanted to do so.” 

“It won’t. And I’m glad you caught me and did what you did. I was dishonoring myself, my clan, my ancestors and the code of Bushido by lying as was Dimetrius. Honesty is another pillar of Bushido and by lying I also committed dishonor and that too was against bushido.” Crystal said quietly as she started eating.

Dimetrius sniffing hugged Crystal and whimpered. “I’m sorry I lied and was d…dis…dishonorable.” He said quickly with a couple hiccups fearing he was about to get another spanking for his insult to two pillars of his new way.

Putting down her fork Crystal hugged him back and rubbed his back saying, “I forgive you little brother. If anything it is my dishonor not yours since I asked you to keep it quiet.” 

Once he was sure he wasn’t about to be spanked again he let her go back to eating and sat there quiet waiting for Jade and Crystal to finish so he and Kalabad could be excused to do something.

“Boys if you want to you can crawl off down the hall towards our rooms and go into the room across from the bathroom and use the things in there to occupy yourselves.” Jade said letting them go early. 

Nodding the two got on their hands and knees and crawled away as best they could having heard her say “crawl off.” And knowing they were both to act as babies they were not surprised to see that the room, after Dimetrius reached up and opened the door, was a large nursery with plenty of baby toys, a changing table big enough for an adult half-orc to be put on, and a couple of cribs that were equal size to the changing table. Going in they both crawled over to the toy chest and picked out a couple of stuffed animals each and stated playing with them.

Within a half hour after they started playing Dimetrius, having had two harsh spankings in two days thus causing him to feel drained, curled up next to the pile of toddler sized plushies and took a nap. Kalabad however went back into the chest and found a box of coloring sticks and some books for it and proceeded to color in it and offering one of the books to Dimetrius when he woke up.

Around lunch time Jade and Crystal came in carrying the diaper bags and after checking them both changed the boys and then took them to the dining room/kitchen and fed them some baby food before putting them both down for a nap in the living room with a blanket on both of them before eating a sandwich each. After they finished their sandwiches the girls went to the living room and they each took a book they liked off the shelves and curled up on one of the couches apart from each other and read for a good while. Nearly an hour after lunch Crystal blushed and said, “Jade…”

“Yes?” she asked not looking up from her book.

“You said I have to follow all the rules regarding the diapers right. That means I have to ask you if I’m not in baby mode to get changed. Could you…please?” Crystal said blushing more.

“Alright dear let’s go to the nursery so we can do it easier.” Jade said putting the bookmark tassel in place and standing up. 

Doing the same Crystal got up carefully not wanting to ruin the couch accidentally and walked to the nursery ahead of Jade. Once there Jade picked Crystal up and put her on the changing table and proceeded to get the supplies out of Dimetrius’s diaper bag and put one of the thick diapers on the utility shelf and the rest of the bag on the shelf below her. Working quickly Jade noticed that Crystal’s bottom was not even close to any shade of pink like it should have been after the spanking and says, “Your bottom should still be a bit pink. You didn’t have any cream for after spanking in the bag.” 

“It…it’s the Diapers. I…I picked them because they were extra thick and had a healing spell in them for healing diaper rash and spankings quickly. I half expected this to happen but was hoping it wouldn’t have happened until our last day at least.” She replied embarrassed more.

“I already spanked you for hiding it and won’t add to it knowing this but I am disappointed even more hearing this dear.” Jade said with a tone that showed it.

“I’m sorry. If you want you can add to my punishment for it. It was a blatant planning ahead knowing that you would spank me if you caught me.” Crystal said looking away.

“Alright but it’s not a spanking you’re getting or being forced to do what Dimetrius and Kalabad have to do this weekend. I don’t have the strength of will or energy to take care of three giant babies. Instead when we get back to the city you have to come stay at my orphanage for a week and mentor your choice of three of my more troublesome children.” Jade said smiling at her.

“That…that’s actually a creative and interesting punishment.” Crystal said shocked as Jade slid the clean diaper in place and powdered her up.

Snugly pulling the front panel up between Crystal’s legs and fastening the triple tapes on each side Jade says, “I know hunh. It just came to me out of the blue…like a muse was sitting on my shoulder or Pelor gave me the idea. Oh well whoever caused me to think it I thank them. So what do you want for dinner? We got a few hours but the sooner we plan the sooner we can be ready to do it.” 

“Well…if you don’t mind, I would like to share another dish similar but completely different from those noodle balls I made on our first adventure. I’ll need help and even the boys can have it as it is common for our people to let kids of three and older eat it. Even if we consider three-year old’s still babies when I heard the word for them here is toddler. And it would make for a…well…it would give us both a break from toxic baby food diapers on those two.” Crystal said with a laugh at the end.

“Alright just tell me what you need and I’ll go set the stuff up on the island counter for you to work with.” Jade said helping Crystal off the table and tossing out the rolled up diaper into the trash can at the foot.

“Eggs, flour, salt, a mixing bowl, a whisk for dough a sharp knife a baking sheet, a clean dish towel for the noodles a rolling pin oh and a pot to cook them in afterwards with some olive oil; and for the sauce I need ground red meat, preferably beef but I’m willing to use deer, a pot, tomatoes, brown sugar, and a thickening agent for sauce if you have it otherwise I can just keep reducing the sauce until it is thick enough and a pot.” Crystal said.

“Alright It sounds like that will all take a while how long do you need to do this from scratch?” Jade asked making the list in her head as she led crystal to the kitchen.

“Uh…let’s see the cooking time for the noodles after they are made is about five minutes but the dough has to sit for a half hour after I finish mixing it so…maybe an hour…less if you are willing to follow my instructions to cook the sauce.”

“Alright we can start in a few hours then say…six?” Jade said as she got everything out leaving the package of meat in the sink to let the blood drain without contaminating the prep area.

“Six is fine. If it’s okay I’m going to take a nap.” Crystal said.

Nodding Jade says, “Go ahead. Feel free to curl up with the boys in the living room.” 

“I was just thinking that actually.” Crystal said with a soft laugh going back to the boys and curling up beside Dimetrius though she lay on top of the blanket instead of under it.

A few hours later Crystal was dishing up the fresh made pasta and said, “Alright boys you can feed yourselves this time like normal.” 

Smiling Dimetrius and Kalabad say, “Thanks. How do we eat this though?” 

“I’m curious about that myself?” Jade said laughing.

“Just like the ramen. You can put your fork in and spin it till you have a good ball or you can use chopsticks to eat it a couple strings of noodle at a time.” She said opting for the fork herself.

Nodding the three proceed to eat and hum in pleasure at the taste. 

“This is amazing.” Dimetrius said taking his time with the rest of it after the first bite.

“Coming from someone who “hates vegetables” so much that is a compliment.” Crystal said. 

“I don’t see any veggies?” Kalabad said.

“It’s part of the sauce.” Jade said grinning.

“That is a dirty trick trying to hide veggies in the food.” Dimetrius said though he cleaned his plate. 

“True but you cleaned your plate and enjoyed it didn’t you.” Crystal said grinning.

Opening his mouth to rebuttal Dimetrius was cut off by Jade who said, “Enough Dimetrius. You need your veggies as much as your fruit and if you can eat them and enjoy it that is all that matters. Now be a good boy and go wash your face and brush your teeth. Since you are to be a baby you get to sleep in the nursery. Same with you Kalabad, I’ll be in shortly to tuck you two in.” 

Closing his mouth Dimetrius nodded and put his dishes in the sink and waddled off to the bathroom to clean up and Kalabad joined him doing the same. Jade moving the blankets aside pulled off their shirts and put them in the cribs and covered them up. Giving them each a kiss on the head she clapped and caused the light orbs to dim to a very dull glow just enough to see by and left the room saying, “Good night you two. Sleep tight.” 

“G’night mama.” They both said yawning. 

Closing the door she went and helped Crystal do the dishes and pat her bottom gently checking if she needed a change which she didn’t yet and said. “Go ahead and head off to bed Crystal I’ll take care of the rest of the dishes.”

Blushing at having been checked Crystal nods and says, “Alright. Good night Jade.” And she went to her room and got into her pajama’s before crawling into bed and falling asleep quickly.

Around midnight Dimetrius woke up screaming bloody murder from a nightmare involving the dead rising from the grave and attacking people.

Bursting into the nursery Jade held her hammer and had her armor phased in ready for combat and seeing Dimetrius sitting up in the crib still screaming staring blankly into space not seeing the room. Suddenly he fell back on his pillow and started crying afraid and completely soaked and soiled. Crystal having come in with Jade ran over and hugged him shushing saying, “it was just a bad dream little brother it’s okay. It was just a dream.” 

Shaking his head in her arms he cried, “Not a dream. Not a dream. I felt it. It was so real. I felt the evil of it. Oh gods…please don’t let it be true.” 

Shushing him more she held him and pet his head and back having lowered the cribs side by flipping a catch and waited for him to calm down to change him. Jade going over to Kalabad who looked terrified and shaken lowers the bars and checks him as well then picks him up and puts him on the changing table and works quickly so Crystal could do Dimetrius. 

Once the two were changed Jade says, “Let’s all go back to my room. There is plenty of room on the bed for the four of us and I think we could all do with a cuddle after this scare.” 

Nodding the boys and Crystal headed to Jades room and they all got into the bed and huddled together and fell into a nerve ridden but still restful sleep.

The next morning at breakfast Archimedes showed up and tapping on the window to the kitchen to be let in he looked, or it kind of looked like he did, disturbed.

Opening the window Dimetrius says, “It’s a mission involving the dead isn’t it?” 

“How did you know it involved that master?” he replied causing Jade and Kalabad to stare.

“Nightmare last night…felt too real. I kind of guessed it would be that.”

Nodding Archimedes hopped up onto Dimetrius’s shoulder and said, “Yes. The gem encrusted one you call a King said to tell you go straight to the Magistrate’s office in Ghost Haven to get the mission details from him and that the reward this time may break his coffers but it is a necessary job he can’t entrust to anyone but you four. Shall I return to him and inform him you are going?” 

“Yes we’ll be leaving as soon as dishes are done. I can summon some celestial mounts to get us there quickly if needed.” Jade said as she Crystal and Kalabad stood up to go about preparing things.

“Go my friend fly fast and tell his majesty that we are on the job. When you are done, feel free to do as you will until I return from this mission.” Dimetrius said picking the bird off his shoulder and tossing him out the window.


	9. Chapter 9: Do the Dead Have a Voice???

As the four walked through the gates to Ghost Haven and look around a wispy nervous man ran over and said, “Would one of you happen to be a mister Kalabad, adventurer and swashbuckler?” 

“That would be me what can I do for you?” Kalabad said leerily.

“I have a letter I was bidden to give to thee with all due haste.” The man said rummaging in his satchel for said letter and pulling out a thickly folded parchment sealed with red wax and a coat of arms.

Taking the letter Kalabad saw the coat of arms and quickly opened the letter to read what was inside. Seeing it was written in code that was known only to his family and the royal line his face went grim and after a moment he says, “Damn…it had to be now.” 

Staring at him concerned Jade says, “Kalabad is something wrong?” 

“Yes…I know this will not make sense to you three but there is no helping it. I have to leave. This is a summons from my family and if I do not answer it the consequences will be dire. Yet I don’t want to abandon you at the same time. I’m sorry but you’re going to have to solve this problem…and any others that come along without me.” He said as he turned to go back to the stables.

“Kalabad …I know you can’t ignore this so we won’t stop you. But do me a favor, if you would. Send us letters every now and then if you can so we can keep in touch. I promise that when this is over I will come find you and try to fix the curse upon you. I know deep down we will find the creature that caused all this trouble and I swear we will destroy her and get what we need to remove the curse.” Dimetrius said sadly knowing he probably wouldn’t see the young Adventurous boy again.

“I’ll leave a letter with the dock master at the capital for you that will tell you how to find me. However you should wait no less than a year and a half before you try to. I can’t say why but it is best if you do so.” Kalabad said before running off and getting a fresh mount from the stable master and riding off.

Heart heavy in concern for his friend Dimetrius wiped his watering eye as Jade and Crystal did the same and headed for the magistrate. While they walked the three said a quick prayer for the safe journey of their friend. By the time they got to the magistrates office they had their emotions under control and walked inside to see a large room filled with desks and tables piled high with scrolls, parchment, and books of all sizes and shapes as well as various conditions. There were only three people in the room two of which were working furiously on paperwork one of which had just come out of a side room with a hot cup of tea to drink while he worked. “Can I help you three?” he asked seeing them.

“We’re here on orders from the king to help solve some sort of problem with undead. He said to speak to the magistrate to get the details.” Jade said taking command of the situation.

Nodding the officer said, “Wait here I’ll get him.” And he hurried off through the desks and towers of books and scrolls to disappear through a door only to return moments later with a large bellied man in heavy satin robes of a crimson color and the royal insignia of a gavel and sword crosses over a crown to signify his status. “You three the ones the king sent to me? He said there should be four how can I know you’re the right ones?” 

“We were four but when we arrived our friend received a letter from a courier that was of great importance and he had to leave to return to his homeland. He was not able to ignore the summons but I assure you we are enough to handle the job.” Dimetrius said stepping forward his eyes ablaze with sparks at the insinuation that they were not able to do the job.

“You must be Dimetrius the sorcerer and ninja in training. You look how he described you. Alright then here’s the situation as it stands. The last body we found was the worst I’ve seen in my fifty years of office. There is no way a normal human could muster the power required to do what was done to this poor person. She was literally ripped limb from limb even down to her fingers and toes, and her chest was ripped open like it was made of paper not bone. What confuses the hell out of my staff and I, is the body before it seemed to have no damage to it and that the man just seemed to be asleep. However upon our autopsy we found that the man had no blood left in his entire body, coagulated or otherwise. I suspect that it’s the work of undead creatures roaming out of their natural habitat but I’ve not heard of its' like in all my years.”

At this point the subordinate who had fetched him says, “sir I have herd of something like this before but I thought it was rumors and I know you have requested that I not speak of things which may be only rumor, but I do think that it’s important to say this and beg your forgiveness in doing so.”

“Very well Laurence but it better be worth our time or you’re on paperwork duty to get us caught up for the next six months.” He replied rolling his eyes.

“Sir one of my sources came to me a week ago when all this started and he lead me to a document which talked of people from the old world that had magical powers over the dead. However it wasn’t like that of priests, paladins, or clerics who could cause them to flee in terror but of people who had the power to control the dead not just zombies and skeletons which are mindless but also over creatures such as vampires who are intelligent. The document referred to these people as Necromancers but the document said that the last necromancer died 700 years before the end of the old world, I fear that someone has found a way to harness the powers of Necromancy once again sir and that these deaths are not just mere random acts but of that of someone testing their control over their now powers” He said seriously and without backing down at the threat of being on desk duty for a long time.

Upon hearing this magistrate slumps into the closest chair white as a sheet and drawing the sign against evil upon his chest, “My god Laurence why didn’t you come to me with this sooner? I know I said never bring up rumors while on duty, but god man how could you not bring this up. Don’t you think that it could have made all the difference in the world to know this right off? I mean three deaths could have been coincidence but twenty, with similar causes. No I can’t fault you for being afraid of bringing this up it is my own fault for being so hard on you lads about rumors. Josh, fetch me the map of the ruins to the east of our town. Laurence I need you to take these people to the ruins and aid them with whatever they need, I believe that if there truly is a, what did you call it, a necromancer (Laurence nods) that they would most likely be stationed there. I know our maps only cover a small portion of the place and that there are many corridors that were too dangerous to explore for normal people, but I believe that is the best place to look for someone who is dealing with this kind of power.” 

Turning to the three he says, “Should you find any treasure there I only ask that you give 20% of it to us so that we may hire more men, as you can see we are severely understaffed and can use all the help we can get. Also if you find any documents down there referring to this horrid power that you may face, I would like you to bring them to me so that we may have records to refer to should anything like this happen again, though I pray that we won’t need them.”

Face pale at the thought of someone with said power Jade swallows a lump and nods. Crystal also a bit pale nods as well and Dimetrius whose eyes were half unfocused said “Don’t worry about a thing. We will not only stop what is causing this but also bring the culprit or culprits to justice. ” 

Nodding the Magistrate waves the three and Laurence, who was holding the map, off and says, “Good luck then.”

An hour later the four end up outside the ruins of what appears to be an old town. Some walls still stood along with old furniture that looked ready to break at a slight touch and smack dab in the middle of it all was what looked to be a ramp going down into what may or may not have been a sewer system. “Right, let’s see that map then.” Jade said causing Laurence to unroll it and hold a sun rod up as the light was starting to fade. 

Looking it over Jade, Crystal and Dimetrius nod and think things over quickly, “Looks like that it is going to be tight but we should be able to move about normally for most of the place. What I don’t like is all these question marks at what are obviously passages. You want to tell us what that’s about Laurence?” 

“Those are passages that were, at the time of the making of this map, blocked off. Though we had several mages on the job and they said there were items past that rubble that could be useful to us if we chose to try and move it. The Magistrate overruled them on it though saying we just needed to know what was where that people could easily access in case the kids of the village went missing in there. Though we try our best to keep them away from this accursed place.” He said swallowing hard. “If it’s alright with you three I’ll stay out here and watch the horses.” He added nervously eyes wide and white.

“Something up Laurence? You’re not too scared to do your job are you?” Dimetrius asked not fooled for a moment. He knew the look and tone of a person who was terrified and only wanted him to man up and admit his fear.

Before he could answer Jade said, “Now that wasn’t nice Dimetrius. We all have something were terrified of and it is not something to be ashamed of. He may be scared of going in but he was brave enough to get us this far wasn’t he?” 

“You’re right Jade I just wanted him to admit his fear instead of trying to hide it. Admitting that you are afraid is not a sin nor is it something you should be judged upon. Trying to hide that fear and letting it cloud your mind however is another matter.” Dimetrius said as he placed his helm of brilliance, which was glowing a steady solid blue, upon his head.

“Alright I’m afraid. I have always been afraid of things like this happening. But it doesn’t mean I am going to let it control me. I am staying with the horses so nothing sneaks up and takes off with them.” Laurence said. Then realizing that Dimetrius was smiling he said, “you’re an ass but you knew I would chest up and put on a strong front if you said that. Go on then get down in there and do what you came to.” 

Nodding Dimetrius says, “Since we know this damn helmet won’t stop glowing until there are no undead within thirty feet this means we are already close to some undead. I say that what we need to be leery of is when the light STOPS glowing.” 

“Agreed, I can sense evil just from my being a high priestess and powerful servant of Pelor. If that light stops and I still sense evil then we should be extra careful as we know it is not the undead nearby.” Jade said nodding.

“Lead the way then little brother. I’ll watch your back.” Crystal said standing up and unsheathing her Katana as Dimetrius turned his staff into a flaming staff so he could damage the undead with no physical form due to the magic.

Sliding forward Dimetrius walked down the slope into the tunnels and using the light of his helmet to light their path he quickly found the first room on the map they had to inspect. Looking around the corner carefully Dimetrius saw two greyish bodies that looked like slightly malnourished humans and four skeletons covered with just the barest of rotting flesh and hair, all the internal soft tissue long since gone. Quickly pulling his head back he holds up 6 fingers and signs, “solid” to them indicating they looked like they could be hurt with physical damage. But that was all he did as he was not sure what they were. Licking his lips he nods and motioned for them to focus on the two on the right side while he focused on the left side as they looked like they needed more magical means to defeat them.

Nodding the two readied their weapons and Jade settled her shield before giving him the go ahead to go in. whipping around the corner Dimetrius noticed something immediately that was worth noting…any undead that the light his helmet touched shied away from it and let out pained noises as though the light was burning them. Once he was close enough he swung his staff in a high low strike connecting solidly with the face and shin of one of the rotting creatures leaving a smoking mark where the flaming weapon had struck it. 

The two gray bodied creatures hissing at him held out their right hands at the same time and launched three white missiles each from their fingertips which connected solidly with his side and made him stumble into the swing of one of the rotting creatures which struck it’s head leaving his with a ringing in his ears and smelling the strange scent of overcooked fish as a worm had fallen from its arm onto his silver helmet.

Jade chanting as she had entered the room cast a spell upon her hammer which made it glow a blue-white radiance and upon reaching the first of the creatures swung hard in an overhand swing which caused the grey thing to leap back with a surprising agility and hiss knowing full well what would have happened to it had the blessed weapon would have hit it. Distracted by Jades attack the second grey one didn’t notice the slashing blade of Crystals chakra infused Katana and let out a pained screech as the blade bit into its side before it turned its attention to her.

The other two rotting creatures pulled two fat globular worms from their bodies and looked at the girls before tossing them at the two. Seeing the worms flying Dimetrius held up his free hand and let forth a burst of arctic wind from it not only freezing the worms in midflight but also dealing damage to the two grey creatures which screeched at him again. Using one hand he slams the side of his staff into the head of the first rotting creature he had engaged and says, “Keep an eye out for those worms. It must be important to them if they were stupid enough to throw a set at you two.” 

Nodding they shift positions as the third rotter. The one that had struck him before and left a worm on his helmet, swung hard with both hands in an overhead swing to try and slam him. Skipping back out of reach Dimetrius noticed that there were two more worms ready to have come off of it had the attack succeeded and thought carefully. 

Holding its hand up again the left most grey undead conjured a ball of green liquid and shot it at Jade who caught it on her shield and immediately dropped the item as it was smoking and starting to melt. The other Grey however focused on Crystal and the sword she had used to wound it. Leaping forward it slashed at her face with its right hand, claw like fingers ready to tear into flesh. Leaning back just enough Crystal dodged the attack and sent the creature off balance as the attack made it over turn and as he passed her she used her free hand to grab his arm, her armed hand to lock the elbow in place, and thrust her hip between its legs while pulling hard sending the creature flying into a wall a few feet away leaving it upside down as it slid to the floor with a sickening crunch as its neck snapped from the impact with the floor. 

Jade angry that the thing had destroyed her only shield focused her holy might through her holy amulet with Pelor’s symbol on it and thrust it out at the room compelling all undead there to flee from her as she turned them from her. Screeching in pain all three of the creatures drop to the floor and cease moving, their bodies smoking as if they had just been on fire and put out.

“For being so strong they sure are weak. Normally that just makes undead run in fear. They must be low class if my turning killed them.” Jade said kicking the grey one with a toe to make sure it was really dead.

The glow from his helmet ceasing, Dimetrius says, “looks like they are done. My helmet just went out. That’s good, downside is now were in the dark. You have any sunrod’s mama Jade?”

“I think I have a couple left but I can’t see a blasted thing to find them can you give us a temporary light so I can look in my bag?” she said very aware that something could sneak up on them in the dark and they wouldn’t know if it wasn’t an undead.

“Oh yeah…I forgot I could make light. Um…I can make it last for three hours do you want to just save your rods?” He said thumping his forehead with his fist.  
“That would be best I think. But I know that sorcerers can only cast a certain…well I would say level…of spell so many times a day. Do you need the ones you have for that for something else?” Jade said thoughtfully.

“Nah I already put a permanency on myself for the reading magic so I don’t need that and the others are not that great in the long run.” He said before casting the spell “Light” on his staff making it glow bright white giving them a clear twenty foot radius from it to see by and an extra 20 feet of dim light beyond. 

“Oh look there are a trio of chests that these things were guarding.” Crystal said going over to them and quickly checking them for traps. Seeing none she popped the locks on them and raised an eyebrow. “Okay this is weird, there are some more of those potions, one in each chest, and one piece of paper in each and a platinum coin.” She said pocketing the platinum coins and handing the potions to Jade to store. 

Dimetrius coming over picked up the papers as he saw arcane marks on them and looking at the topmost one read, “reunite me with the rest and you shall have great knowledge heh heh heh 137 to go…I wonder what this means?” he said stuffing the pages into his diaper bag figuring they would be useful to keep just in case.  
“No idea. But it sounds like they will combine into something of great power if we find the rest of it. I’m just worried now because I am not used to fighting without a shield and that thing destroyed my only one.” Jade said.

“You could always wish for a new one, if you haven’t used the blade this time that is.” Crystal said casually.

Looking at Crystal Jade smiled. “You know…I haven’t used it since we got the thing. We also need to discuss what to do with the fourth wish but that can wait.” Jade said opening the bag to pull out the wrapped blade. Holding the blade in her hands Jade says, “I wish for a shield worthy of a daughter of Pelor that will aid me in my quests to protect my friends and kingdom.” 

Slowly the blade started pulsing with power as it conjured up such an item and after a minute a large metal shield that was flat on the back but had what appeared to be a roaring lion’s head on the front appeared and floated in the air waiting for her to take it.

Sliding the sword back in the bag and putting it back on her back Jade took the shield out of the air and smiled. “Oh now this is nice. I can feel the power in it.”   
“Looks fitting and I can see that a magical aura in it allows the head to actually bite things like a lion would.” Dimetrius says going over to the door and looking out into the hall carefully.

“That will be useful. Alright then let’s move on. We are nowhere near done and I have a feeling that by the time were done we will all be wishing for sunlight.” Jade said sliding the shield onto her arm as Crystal came up behind Dimetrius to help him keep an eye out as he slid out the door and headed down the hall.

Moving carefully over the rubble strewn floor Dimetrius scans the hall ahead and seeing nothing but turns and openings he looks at the map again and sees that the room on the right had a decent size to it and proceeded up to it. As he got close the helmet burst into light again and peeking around the corner he saw nothing but “knew” something was in there guarding the one chest he could see.

Stepping into the room Dimetrius jumps back a bit wetting himself, when five pitch black figures, that seem to be made of a smoke or flame of some sort, are shown floating in the air and moving back from him and the light of his helmet. Jade moving forward to brace him sees the shadowy figures and says, “Allip. This proves there is something controlling the undead here. These creatures normally are solitary beings and move on once their revenge has been attained.” 

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“They are the remnants of those who commit suicide out of madness and despair. Their sole purpose is to find the person or persons who tormented them in life and to force them to commit suicide or kill them outright. Once they succeed they disappear and move on to where they would have gone.” Jade replied holding up her holy symbol but not ready to use her turning ability yet. “They are also incorporeal so you need to have magical weapons or magic to hurt them.” She added moving past Dimetrius.

Putting his staff in front of her Dimetrius says, “I’ll take care of them. I can send them on in one move and it will be quick for them. Save your turnings for those that we need it for.” Then he pointed his finger at the center most Allip and concentrated hard as a tiny orange ball materialized and launched. By the time it reached the creature the ball was the size of a cannonball and upon striking it exploded sending its fiery wrath to the other four consuming their un-life in one fell burst of flame.  
Nodding Jade said, “Alright that was quick. Crystal If you wouldn’t mind feel free to check that chest.” 

Nodding in respect at Dimetrius’s power Crystal walked into the room and checked the chest finding another potion, platinum coin and a sheet of paper that said, “reunite me with the rest and you shall have great knowledge heh heh heh 136 to go.” 

“Alright this is going to get old very fast if there is 136 more chests in this place with the same items in it.” Crystal said as Dimetrius nodded his agreement.

“Yes that will get annoying but at the same time we have to clear out this place so we could use this as a way to figure out how much more we have to do.” Jade said with a sigh.

The next room they checked had four chests again with the same contents of the first four and a door in the northern wall. The light of Dimetrius’s helmet was almost blinding as they had entered the third room which they agreed indicated that something powerful was in the next room. Getting an idea Dimetrius held up a hand and moved over to the wall activating his ring of elemental command earth and merged with the stone itself and slid to the inside of the room with and carefully poked his head just far enough forward to see the room. As he did, he saw three women floating in the air. All three were pale, ethereal, with hair down to their butts though it looked brittle and ratty. Holding back a scream Dimetrius carefully slides back into the wall and goes back to the others. Once he was out of the wall it was clear he was terrified as his face was white as a fresh bed sheet. 

“What is it?” Jade whispered.

“I…I don’t know what you call them. But on my old home…we called them screamers. Deadly ghosts that can kill with a single scream if the person is not strong of heart. There’s three of them, tall leggy women with long hair that look as if it was made of twigs or dry grass. I don’t know if we have what we need to destroy them.” He said thinking hard. 

“That sounds like Banshee’s to me.” Crystal said going white and leaking a bit into her diaper, which she had not bothered to take off after breakfast as it would have wasted time, out of actual fear.

“I can’t be assured I can turn something that powerful. They are some of the most dangerous undead on our planet. I would rather fight an army of vampire than a single banshee let alone three of them.” Jade said shaking a little.

“Wait…I got it…I can summon an Elemental to fight them for us. Fire water and Air elementals are able to strike incorporeals’ as though they were not. The question is which should I do? Because this room is too small for us but the next one is huge, big enough for a greater elemental.”

“I think we should go with fire. It can do the most damage I think as the undead fear fire and holy power above all other things so burning them would cause them more pain.” Jade said thoughtfully.

“Yeah even the Sha back home fear fire and they are pure sin and considered undead. They are the embodiment the seven sins of mankind and their various aspects, completely incorporeal and yet solid at the same time. Fire is definitely the route.” Crystal said knowledgeably. 

Nodding Dimetrius opened the door a crack and concentrated on a spot right next to the banshee’s that would give the Elemental the surprise attack and proceeds to cast the spell to summon a greater one. Once he finished the incantation in his head there was a roaring sound like that of a furnace or forge being stoked with a bellows as a huge vaguely humanoid shape took form startling the banshee’s as it caused them to be smashed by its head into the ceiling dealing a huge amount of damage to them before they understood what was happening. 

As he had suspected the three banshee, once free of the elemental, all screamed at it but instead of it exploding in a shower of flames as it would have if it died the thing just stood there looking stunned. “now.” Dimetrius whispered as he burst through the door and threw a bolt of lightning at one of the banshee striking it square in the chest area and causing her to shriek in pain but not in the same way they had just done to stun the elemental. 

Jade not having a magical weapon other than the ungodly luck blade which was in her diaper bag thinks quickly and remembers that she had prepared a Disrupting weapon spell for the day during her prayers as they flew to the city and proceeded to cast it upon her hammer before moving towards the fray to attack the creatures.   
Crystal Leaping like a giant mantis slashed with her katana as she passed two of the banshee’s as her chakra coursed through the blade making it spark and crackle with emerald green lightning.

As the blade sliced through the two the banshee’s screamed in pain and attempted to slash at Crystal with their ghostly hands but were too slow as they burns they suffered beforehand from the fire elemental. Despite being stunned the Elemental burned bright and hot its fire affecting all those deemed an enemy by Dimetrius thus making the burns on the banshee’s grow hotter and make the trio scream in pain again. Shaking its head the elemental shook off its stun and roared it’s fury at the trio and lashed out with two hands grabbing the two banshee’s that Crystal had slashed the elemental squeezed hard causing them severe pain as they were engulfed with his potent flames. Screaming in pain the two banshees struggle but are unable to break the grip the Elemental had on them. 

Dropping to the ground level unable to keep herself afloat due to the pain of her burns and the pain of the constant seer of the helm of brilliance the third banshee glared at Dimetrius with spite and pure hate in her eyes. Opening her mouth wide, wider than a she should have been able to in life as though she had been born with a disarticulated jaw like that of a snake, she let out a shriek at him hoping to kill him with the sound of her wail. Having seen the banshee open her mouth at him Dimetrius did the only thing he could think of and cast a sound spell he hoped was equal or greater than the banshee wail. 

With a deafening roar Dimetrius shouted as hard as he could at her and not only did he send her own wail into nothingness as it was drowned out by him but he also caused her to feel great pain as the reverberations of the shout shook her to her very core and let her feel the terror humans and other living creatures felt at her presence. 

Jade jumping in after Dimetrius shouted brings her hammer down on the banshee hard while the creature was unaffected by the disruption spell on her hammer this time the fact that it was magically enhanced, even temporarily, made it possible for her to hit the creature at her full strength and drive the she witch to her knees. Crystal landing on her feet on the other side of the room turned round and making several hand signs cast a chakra lightning bolt at the banshee the others were focusing on. “RAKURAI.” She yelled as the lightning flew from her fingers coalescing into a single bolt before it struck the undead witch. 

Smoking hard now the witch doubled over in pain as did her two comrades still gripped tight in the Elementals fists. Looking up at Jade and Dimetrius who were in front of her she put her jaw back into place and said in a voice that was ragged and pained, “You and your friends here may destroy my sisters and me but you will never defeat our dark mistress. La Mere de Lumière will see to it that you and your world will fall into darkness. Not even the gods who remain in your world can stop her.” 

“The gods need not soil their hands with the destruction of the undead and your mistress. That is what I and my friends have been chosen to do.” Dimetrius said pointing at her and sending a large ball of fire into her face finishing her off. As the ball exploded on her face she let out one last scream and her sisters did the same as they all went up in a flash of fire leaving behind just a bit of ash and ectoplasm to show they had been there at all. 

After the banshee’s final screams had faded the elemental looked down at Dimetrius with wide fire filled eyes and stared. Seeing the elemental staring at him Dimetrius nervously shifts on his feet and says, “Thank you for the help great creature of flame. If you choose to leave now I shall not object. I release you from the call of my summoning.” 

Forming a more discernable face the elemental smiled at Dimetrius and held out its massive hand in the shape of a fist with the palm down. Holding out his hand nervously Dimetrius let the elemental do what he was intending hoping to the gods that he wasn’t about to be hurt. Dropping a large ruby the size of Dimetrius’s combined hands into it the Elemental said in a whispery common that sounded more like the sputtering and crackling of a fire, “I have not had so much fun in centuries as I did today. This ruby is a jewel I give only to those who entertained me well. You may use it to call me three times before the magic leaves it. However you must wait a week between uses minimum and you cannot use it today.” 

“Thank you. I promise to use this only when it is necessary.” Dimetrius said gratefully though his voice was cracked and horse. 

Nodding the elemental vanished slowly from view and once he was gone Dimetrius collapsed to his knees exhausted, and started shuddering. Crystal hurrying over to him says in a worried voice, “Are you alright little brother.”

“Yes and no…throat…pain…tired.” He said finally feeing the exhaustion of using so many high level spells in a short time and the effect of the horrid visage spell like ability of the three banshees.

“Perhaps now would be a good time to rest for a bit. If we charge through this place we will do ourselves an injury. This room seems secure enough and we will know if any undead approach thanks to your helmet. Crystal how about you check out the chests over there while I change Dimetrius and prepare something for us to eat?” Jade said stripping her bag off her back and helping Dimetrius get his off so he could get out his supplies and the diaper he wanted.

Nodding Crystal went and opened all the chests and rolled her eyes seeing that once again they all contained a potion, a platinum coin and a piece of paper that was the same as the others when all was said and done she had collected eleven more of each and Dimetrius was in a clean thick pink diaper. Coming over with the stuff Crystal smiled seeing he had chosen to keep going with the pink colored diapers despite the fact they were on a mission and placed the papers in his bag before she put the potions in Jades bag. 

As she sat down next to him Dimetrius rested his head on her shoulder hugging her tight. “I’m scared sis. More scared than when we came across the corruption of those villages in our first mission together.” He said quietly trying to keep from breaking down.

“I understand little brother. I’m scared too. I don’t like to admit it but those banshees scared me enough that I wet too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of fearing the living dead. Anything that can control three banshee’s is worthy of being afraid of. What we need to do is have the courage to fight on and to take control of our fear.” She replied petting his head as she hugged him back.

“You really got scared that bad?” He asked feeling weaker than he should have.

“I did buddy. Soon as Jade is done cooking I was going to see if she would help me change. I have a feeling we might bet scared enough to need them again.” Crystal said resting her face on his head.

“If you want I could help you sissy so you don’t has to wait that long and risk a rash.” Dimetrius said sniffing lightly. 

“Alright then but you have to promise to try and be brave enough to fight past your fears.” She said smiling down at him.

Nodding Dimetrius smiled up at her and sat up straight to get into his bag for one of her diapers and the other supplies back out while she got her pants off. Working fast Dimetrius got her soaked diaper off and her diaper area wiped down and powdered well before Jade had the food done and after he had her sealed up in the new diaper he took her rolled up used one and his old one and tossed them into one of the treasure chests before going back to her.

“I guess since were camping for a bit that means the no pants rule is in effect?” Crystal asked Jade jokingly though considering how bad the situation was she wouldn’t mind as it was a way to help everyone relax. 

“I think you both can wear them for now if you want. It’s not a normal camping but if you want to go without to try and relax a bit to keep each other calm then that is fine too. You won’t be punished for covering them while we camp in this accursed place.” Jade said kindly as Dimetrius sat down next to Crystal again and snuggled her. 

“I’ll keep mine off. Don’t want to have to take them off again if I have another accident while we camp.” He said before yawning.

“Go ahead and nap then dear it will be a while before the food is ready. I just got the fire hot enough to cook on.” Jade said as she started to put some strips of meat on grilling skewers and put them over the flame while also putting some potatoes on the small grilling rack over them.

Nodding Dimetrius got his bedroll off his bag and unrolled it before curling up on it and popping his pacifier in his mouth. Crystal feeling fatigued as well asks, “Mind if I nap too Jade? I mean there isn’t anything I can do to help you cook and we don’t need two sets of eyes to keep an eye on the helmet do we?” 

“Go ahead dear I’ll wake you both when the food is ready. I’m sure Dimetrius’s helmet will be more than enough warning for us.” Jade said watching the fire more so than Crystal or Dimetrius. 

Nodding Crystal got her own bedroll unfolded and placed it so it was perfectly set against Dimetrius’s and pulled him against her side snugly after she lay down causing him to murr in content and snuggle closer before he actually fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Ask not for whom the bell tolls.

An hour and a half after Dimetrius and Crystal fell asleep for their nap they felt themselves being gently shaken awake. “Up and at’em you two food’s ready.” Jade said kindly to the two groggy adventurers.

Groaning Dimetrius and Crystal sit up then look at each other and laugh. Dimetrius because Crystal’s hair was all tousled and a mess despite the short sleep. Crystal because Dimetrius’s pacifier had somehow glued itself to his forehead

Reaching up Dimetrius finger combed Crystals hair a bit until it was more tidy and then blushed realizing what he did. Blushing back Crystal pulled his pacifier off his head and tucked it back into his mouth. Then the two got up and headed over to the fire where they grabbed the skewers of meat and a potato each and put them on their tray’s that Jade had set out. 

“You two sleep alright?” Jade asked as she got her own food on her plate.

“As good as one can sleep inside what is essentially a giant tomb filled with dark magic.” Dimetrius said before tearing into one of the pieces of meat on his skewer.  
“What he said.” Crystal replied before biting into her potato.

“Well that’s good then. So far that helmet has been quiet. Not even a hint of a blue light has come up.” Jade said eating her potato first.

Nodding the two smiled a bit and continued to eat their food in silence watching the helmet and thinking quietly.

“I…I wonder if Crystal has the same weird feeling lately that I get when I see her or talk to her.” Dimetrius thought to himself as he occasionally glanced at the kunoichi not sure what he was feeling but was assured that it was a good feeling.

Once the four finish eating Dimetrius and Crystal check each other to see if they needed a change and finding they were stilly dry and clean get their pants back on and refasten their tops in place properly then put up their hoods so their eyes were all that were showing. Although Dimetrius sort of ruined the effect by re-donning the helm of brilliance, so that he would be alerted to the undead and able to do his job better down there.

Once they had crossed the room and gotten to the far door Dimetrius, holding his staff, activated his helmets special skill of making any weapon into a flaming weapon and then before opening the door noticed his helmet had started glowing blue again and looked back at Crystal and Jade and signed if they wanted him first or if one of them wanted to take a peek so he didn’t give their presence away with his glow. 

Nodding Crystal motioned for him to step back and switched places with him before opening the door just wide enough to see into the room. Much like the other rooms they had found the next one looked like a regular room one would find in a house anywhere in the kingdom but filled with broken furniture and ruble. Floating above the floor with an ethereal table between them six humanoid phantasms sat around it playing poker.

“When do you think the intruders will get here? I’m growing bored with waiting to kill a living person again.” One of them said with a grating voice loud enough for all three to hear.

“Oh yeah like you were so good at it when we were alive, I can’t remember how many times I had to bail you out for our old boss because you couldn’t stomach slitting a throat.” Another said with a whispery feminine voice.

“Shut it you two and just play we don’t have nuthin ter do till they get here.” A deep rumble came from a third.

Stepping back Crystal looked at the other two and held up 6 fingers and signed “specters” to them.

Nodding Dimetrius pointed at his helmet and then signed, “I remembered why this helmet was so powerful in the other world. Undead fear it as it hurts them with the glow and incorporeal undead can’t turn invisible near it.” He then motioned for Crystal to move aside so he could launch a surprise attack before he would let her and Jade through. 

Nodding she stepped aside and once he took his place he pointed his finger through the crack and closed his eyes before firing off a Fireball spell. Once he felt it leave his fingers he jumped to the other side and grabbed the door handle and let the two take point. Once they had gotten into position, a loud “BOOOOOM” erupted from the next room as the fireball exploded causing the six specters to scream in pain as their ectoplasm was set ablaze and half their forms were destroyed. 

Jerking the door open Dimetrius let Crystal and Jade go through before he ran in behind them. Before them were six half formed specters smoking heavily from the parts of their bodies that were destroyed from the fireball, and smoldering furniture. Leaping high Crystal unsheathed her Katana in one quick stroke slicing through two of the specters at once as her blade seamlessly decapitated the ones on the right hand side. Jade wielding Frostbrand slashed hard with a battle cry of, “By Pelor’s wrath I condemn thee to the nine hells.” And her blade easily bit deep into one of the two on the left hand side causing it to yell in pain before vanishing.

Swinging hard with their incorporeal hands the three remaining specters tried their best to mount a counter attack but were ineffective against the three and easily fell to their counter attacks leaving behind a total of six modest sized globs of Ectoplasm on the floor. As the last of the specters died again Dimetrius looked around and noticed two doors, one on the far side of the room and one on the southern all. Seeing his helmet was still glowing he said. “Well there is no way in the nine hells that if there is something behind those two doors they didn’t hear us. So which one do we go after first?”

“South wall, the map shows that the one over there leads to another passage.” Jade said checking the map.

Nodding Dimetrius walked over to the door and moving the door just slightly he looked inside and went white as a sheet. Throwing the door wide he revealed eight well made, antique coffins all of which were closed. “There is only one undead I know of that needs a coffin.” He said swallowing a lump in his throat.

“Aye Vampires.” Jade said. “And they can see, smell and hear better than a damned lycanthrope so we might as well stop whispering. If they are “awake” they know we are here.” She added sheathing the sword and picking up her hammer. 

Moving in first Jade thrusts open the lid of the closest coffin and says angrily, “Shoot. They are not here.” And flipping open the other five she says, “All of them are empty. Keep your guard up.”

Turning round her holy symbol bursts forth with a bright white light as her faith alerted her to the attempted use of vampiric powers on her which were prevented due to her strength of faith in Pelor and the power of light.

“Your little toy may stop us from using our powers to cloud your mind but it does not help your friends or protect you from our physical might.” A massive vampire, who was built like a barbarian that dwelled in the mountain range far to the east of the city, past the burning sands of the great southern desert, said as he shielded his eyes from the glow. 

“Stand down you foul creature and leave this place. If you don’t I will de…” Jade started then realized she was at a disadvantage as while she had been flipping open the lids of the coffins the vampires had silently ambushed them and now had Crystal and Dimetrius subdued as two were holding Crystal down face pressed hard to the floor and three here holding Dimetrius one of them with a rather wicked looking blade pressed to his throat. 

“You’re in no position to make demands. And your friends little toy barely registers to us as a pain. It’s more of a tickle.” The leader said as he backhanded Dimetrius hard enough to dent the helmet a little and knock him out.

“Don’t hurt him. What is it you want? Clearly you are not working for whoever is doing these things or you would have just killed us as easily as you were able to ambush us.” Jade said looking worried.

“Bright one here isn’t she?” said a snide emaciated looking vampiress as she and her two companions let go of Dimetrius since he was unconscious.

“Yes she is.” Their leader said before turning his full attention back to Jade, “Simply put my dear the old adage of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You agree to do something for us and we let you live and leave here relatively unscathed. I know you are here to destroy the thing controlling all the undead here to cause attacks in that little town to the west I am strong enough to keep her from controlling my clan but not strong enough to protect myself as well. She currently sleeps or I would be tearing out your throats now and consuming our fill of your precious life blood.”

“So what you wanted to just wish us luck in killing her off so you can go about your business and slaughter the populous at your own will? I don’t think so. Mortem ad mortem” she said casting a powerful spell of the light which made all the vampires save their leader suddenly drop to the floor smoking and with their faces twisted in horror and pain.

“That was very stupid.” The barbarian vampire said reaching over his shoulder to a sword hilt and drawing it so fast that Jade barely had time to get her Lion’s Shield of Indestructability on her arm. “Behold the unholy scimitar of colors and know death when you see it wench.” He said swinging the blade nonchalantly as he cracked his neck without touching it.

Crystal biding her time stayed on the ground and didn’t move at all so she could plan her attack. 

Moving with a speed great enough to be a blur of motion the vampire swung his blade hard and fast backing Jade up with each attack as all she was able to do was manage a block with her shield or barely parry the blade with her hammer. Seeing that Dimetrius was still out Crystal did what she thought best and sprang forth from the ground at a near equal speed to the Vampire’s leader and slashed his back hard with her Katana in a surprise attack making him cry out in severe pain as not only did the blade bite deep into him but the electricity from her chakra lightning wracked his body. 

Once he was in the full throws of the electricity running through him Jade made her move and smashed her hammer hard into his chest in a side swipe making a sick cracking sound as a few of his ribs cracked.

“You bitches I shall see you both slain and returned as my minions and slaves.” He said holding his ribs with one hand and brandishing his blade with the other.

Eyes snapping open Dimetrius launched himself at the vampire slashing with his clawed hands. “You will do no such thing vile creature.” He roared.

“How did you recover so quickly?” The vampire said as Dimetrius’s attack slashed his chest leaving deep gouges.

“Isn’t it obvious he was playing opossum your attack didn’t hurt him as much as he let on.” Jade said slamming him again with her hammer hitting the same spot and fully breaking the ribs she had cracked. 

Coughing up some coagulated blood the Vampire glared at the three and snarled baring his fangs. Moving fast despite his broken ribs the vampire appeared behind Dimetrius and wrapped him in a bear hug from behind. Striking down with his head the vampire bared his fangs and aimed for the large vein in the side of Dimetrius’s neck.

“Draconia supremica” Dimetrius said loudly causing his blue scales to glow golden for a moment right as the fangs struck his neck causing them to break off from the vampires mouth and the vampire to release him with a yelp of pain at the same time his fangs broke. Turning round Dimetrius looked down at the Vampire and said, “Look into my eyes fool and know fear.” Then he opened his mouth and spat a line of lightning through the vampire at the heart instantly exploding it and incinerating the pieces. 

Once the vampire dropped to the floor eyes rolled into the back of his head Dimetrius, despite the power of the Draconic Might spell giving him strength, was unable to keep his feet and collapsed hard.

Moving quick Jade and Crystal caught him and Crystal says, “you alright Dimetrius?”

“I, was not playing opossum. I really was knocked out by that blow but…I could hear what he was saying somehow…I…I couldn’t let him…not to you.” he said looking at Crystale as something besides fear ran behind his eyes but she couldn’t tell what.

“Well you need a moment to recover so sit down and let Jade heal your head. If you are this dizzy you probably have a concussion. I’ll pile the bodies up so we can torch them. Only sure fired way to guarantee their not coming back and even then if they were old, and powerful enough they might be able to attack in spirit form.” Crystal said as she helped Jade get him over to one of the coffins and shut the lid so he could sit on it.

“Okay but be careful. I felt something evil more than just him when I cast that last spell to keep him from munching on my neck.” He said as Jade started healing him.  
Ten minutes later Jade finished checking him over and casting the healing spell that would cure his concussion and Crystal had lit the bodies of the vampires in the other room so that they could still move around while the bodies burned. 

“I’ve been thinking. This place is massive and too much for us to clear out quickly. And we have too many powerful foes in this place to tackle alone.” Dimetrius said slowly elbows on his knees fingers laced and pressed just under his nose against his lip in thought.

“This is true sweetie but what can we do. We have to clear this place out and find all those pages so that we can defeat whoever is in charge here.” Jade said as she wiped her head and took a drink from her flask. 

“I know I’m not suggesting we quit…but…I had a plan that might get things done quicker while still keeping us safe, though it will require a great deal of magical power on my part to pull off.” He said slowly.

“What did you have in mind Dimetrius?” Crystal said worried.

“Well it’s like this. The magic I know can be divided into nine levels of power. For each level of power I can cast so many spells per day at my current strength or sacrifice a spell of a higher level to cast one spell of the slot below it. I have already used two of my limit of five spells of the eighth tier. I can either use the last three to summon three more Greater Elementals, I was thinking earth as they can meld with the floor and travel with us underground and not be seen until needed. And we split into three groups of two, one of us each with an elemental and we go clear out the place. Or I could use two of them to give you protection Jade and Crystal and I can ninja our way through this place. Either way we could meet back here in a few hours. And before I did this I could use a summon monster spell of the sixth magic level tier to summon up to five small earth elementals to “map” this place for us quickly and mark where they feel strong evil at.” He said finally looking up at them.  
“I don’t like the idea of splitting up in so thin of groups. I would prefer we stick together but at the same time it would be faster to getting things done if we did split up. If we agree then I would prefer the second option of having two elementals with me but I would like you to use the third spell to summon one to stay with you two that way we are a force of three regardless of where we are.” Jade said.

“I don’t think we should you guys. I have this feeling that we will need all of our combined strength to deal with the strong ones here. I think the best thing to do would be to just summon the five small ones and have them map the place so we can move quicker as we would have a full map and know what is where so we’re not blindly walking about like idiots.” Crystal said firmly as she watched the fire consume the bodies of the vampires.

Nodding Dimetrius said, “Okay.” And he got up and pointed to a spot in the bigger room large enough for the elementals to appear and concentrated hard on what he wanted and cast the spell to summon the elementals. After a minute the area was filled with five small earth elementals who looked excited to help and after explaining clearly for them to understand what he wanted they went off quickly burrowing through the earth and leaving no sign they were doing so.

“Was it me or did they look like they were baby’s or toddlers?” Jade said.

“Were they humanoid I would say they would fit that. They were very eager to do something which should be a clue. But like with dragons size is a depiction of age as well so small would be the equivalent of I would say 3-5 year old for a human. Tiny would be an actual baby.” Dimetrius said as they waited.

As they waited Jade thought and finally said, “Dimetrius would you enlighten us on the spell you cast when the vampire tried to bite you? I’ve never heard those words before.” 

“Ah well that is a rather interesting spell and I was glad it worked. It’s called Draconic Might. It basically gives me or whomever I touch a boost to their strength, charisma and their strength of heart as well as toughens their skin by a decent amount for a while. As a half dragon I didn’t know if it would work on my hide but apparently it did. I didn’t think my skin was tough enough at the time to resist a vampires fangs so it was a desperation move. I’m glad it worked.” He said smiling.

“Interesting and very useful, I wonder if there would be a way to make that permanent?” Jade said thoughtfully not to anyone in particular.

“I can make it permanent but I have to sacrifice some of my power to do so and it won’t stack with other spells that boost the same areas, though it will override those that are weaker.” He said as the first of the elementals reappeared and carved its section into the floor for them. 

“Well we already were in those rooms they look just like the ones on our map that we do have. Thank you though small one you did a good job.” Crystal said unrolling their map to compare it to its drawing. 

“Yes thank you for the good job young one you may return to your home so you don’t get in trouble with your elders.” Dimetrius said patting it on the head as two more elementals popped up and added to the drawing on the floor what they had found.

“Oh my, would you look at that? This place is huge I can’t believe there is so much to it. And we still have two more of these little ones to return yet.” Jade said as she got out a writing quill and an ink pot from her regular bag and started adding to the map that Crystal handed her. “Can you ask them what those symbols are inside the rooms dear?” 

Dimetrius shook his head. “They barely understand my commands I can’t speak Terran either. But I think we can presume that the diamond shapes are possibly treasure chests or valuable items. While the x’s are some sort of enemy. I would hazard a guess that the big X’s are the dangerous ones.”

“Well if that is correct then we have seven dangerous creatures left while we have an unknown total of regular monsters to take down as the other two have yet to return. Hmm…well at least we can know what is where now. Thank you little ones this helps us a great deal.” Crystal said as the knelt down and pat them both on the head gently with a smile.

The two elementals actually hugged her before disappearing having finished their work and happy that they did well. Shortly after they vanished the last two appeared and finished the map showing no more big enemies but a series of them down one hall and some more diamond shapes as well as several instances of minor enemies, or what they assumed were minor given their guess that the x’s were the monsters.

After finishing copying down the map Jade says, “Thank you darlings you did a good job. Now best you get back to your elders and families so you don’t get hurt here.”

Nodding the last two elementals left with a shimmer as they returned to their home. Once they were gone Dimetrius looked the map over and pursed his lips. “Well it looks like the next two rooms straight down the hall would be the best bet to go to first. One has only a few targets in it and a few chests and the one after that seems to have a load of chests. I would hazard a guess that the monster in there is very powerful if the creature controlling everything here left only one in it to guard them.”  
“I agree let’s clear out the smaller room first then take on whatever is in that next room.” Crystal said nodding.

“Alright then let’s go I’ll hold onto the map.” Jade said gently blowing on it to help quick dry the ink.

After a short walk over rubble strewn halls the three come to the entrance to the next room and peer inside from around the sides of the door. Inside they saw three creatures that looked similar to human corpses but with wild, frantic eyes burn with malevolence. They also had leathery, desiccated flesh that was drawn tight across their bones, and the teeth had grown into sharp, jagged needles. Grinning Dimetrius signed to the others. “Wights, simple SOLID undead that will be easy to dispose of.” 

Nodding they gave him a thumbs up indicating that he could take the lead if he wanted. Nodding he readied his staff and ran in headlong after turning invisible with the ghost step skill he had learned from Crystal and once he was close enough to one of the Wights he slammed it hard with his staff which was still under the “flaming” effect from his helmet causing it to crumple instantly from the force of the blow and being caught off guard.

“Who dares try to steal our mistresses treasure.” One of them said as it and the only other one left turned to attack Dimetrius.

“We do.” Jade said hurling her hammer hard at it nailing it solidly in the chest and making it scream for a second before it turned to ash from the disrupting effect on it.

Crystal silent as a shadow ended up on the other side of the room instantly her blade held out to her side in a two point stance. Standing up she wiped the blade on her arm and quickly sheathed it as the wight she had attacked fell to the floor cut in half diagonally from the right hip to the left shoulder.

“That was easy. Now let’s see what we have in these chests. Like we didn’t know right?” she said going about checking the chests for traps before opening them and getting more pages to add to the others along with four more platinum and four potions of rejuvenation. 

Leaving the room after they stowed the pages and potions the three carefully creep down the hallway and stop occasionally thinking they had heard someone coming up behind them. Eventually they came to the massive room they were heading for and looking inside see a massive humanoid figure with a bald head waxy grey skin wearing heavy banded mail and wielding two massive spiked flails. 

Looking at each other the three silently think about the best route of attack. Dimetrius putting his staff on his back and drawing the sword of life stealing uses his helmet to turn it into a flaming weapon instead of his staff then points to him and crystal and makes the motion of “sneak attack” then to Jade signaling that she should come in after the fight starts. 

Nodding she signs, “Be careful that is a Deathbringer and they are very dangerous. Physically strong and have a strong defense and skin.” 

Nodding the two use their ghost step skill and charge in attacking the Deathbringer at the same time causing him to let out a muffled roar of pain as they both struck him hard spinning round his flail’s moving fast with him. Crystal having anticipated the attack had jumped back the second she hit him. Dimetrius, however, not having developed the melee skills of her yet had not expected the creature to have the speed it did and subsequently was hit with the first flail hard in the side making him fall though the spikes had not pierced his skin. Rolling through his shoulder he stood wary of the creature and said, “Holy crap this thing’s fast. And that hit kinda hurt my side is numb.”

“I told you to be careful Dimetrius.” Jade said coming into the room and raising her hammer high she shouts, “ATONE FOR YOUR SINS.” As she finished her shout a ten food wide cylinder of flame slammed down on the creature making it let out a muffled roar as its mouth was unable to open due to being sewn shut. 

Crystal channeling her chakra through her blade waited for the flames to disperse and once the flames vanished she leapt in and slashed at the creature cutting through its armor as though it didn’t wear any causing it more pain and turning its attention towards her. 

Opening his mouth wide Dimetrius spat a lightning bolt at the undead monstrosity which was amplified by his metallic armor and made his body twitch and jerk for a moment before he charged Crystal whom was closest to him. Swinging with both flail as he did the creature sent her flying across the room deep scratches in her side making her grateful for the fact that she ordered her outfit to have that indestructible property otherwise she would have surely been in deep trouble from those flails as they would have punctured her deep at the least.

“ATONE FOR YOUR SINS.” Jade shouted again causing another pillar of flame to strike the creature down to his knees. 

Dimetrius at the same time held his hand palm forward and shot forth a beam of rainbow colored light from his palm causing the armor of the Deathbringer to start smoking as it melted a bit and then the whole thing took on a temporary glow that made him look like stone but the glow faded making Dimetrius growl in discontent as he also shot a Fireball at full strength which came from his helmet instead of his hand.

“That will teach you to resist petrification you freak.” Dimetrius said as the fireball slammed into the monsters face making it smoke even more. 

Throwing its arms back in a flourish the creature let out a wave of negative energy in a twenty foot ring centered on him restoring some of his energy and knocking the heroes down and causing them to cry out in pain as the dark energy infected every inch of their body for a second. 

Dimetrius, aiming from the floor where he was, shot off a fireball from his finger and one from his helmet hoping to end the creature with a powerful blast of fire.

“ATONE FOR YOUR SINS.” Jade yelled for a third time making another pillar of holy fire strike the relentless undead monster as Dimetrius’s fireballs hit it hard.

“RAKURAI.” Crystal yelled aiming her fingers on her right hand at the Deathbringer slamming him with several bolts of lightning and causing him to drop to his knees then fall flat on his face where he lay motionless.

As Dimetrius got up his helmet ceased glowing for the time being letting them all know the creature was well and truly dead.

“What are the odds the chests in here have eleven pages for whatever they make and eleven potions and platinum.” Dimetrius said as he got up and walked over to Crystal offering his hand to help her up. 

“I wouldn’t take the bet as they probably do.” Jade said walking over to the chests where she leaned against the wall, then she waited for the two to start checking the chests and bring the goods to her.

Quickly the two, starting at opposite ends, open the eleven chests and sure enough the chests held exactly what they predicted. Putting all but two of the potions into the bag Dimetrius said, “Crystal I know you got hit as bad if not worse than me. Not to mention your Rakurai chakra spell seems to take a lot of your energy. Drink one of these please?”

Nodding Crystal said, “You’re right Dimetrius it does. I would be in deep trouble anyway if my Gi didn’t have that indestructible spell on it.” And taking one of the potions she popped the cork out and waited for Dimetrius to do the same thing.

Once the two were ready the smacked the containers together in a toast to each other, then pounded down the contents letting out a shudder and a hiss as their pain redoubled for a moment before vanishing.

“I wonder if that would restore my clerical magic like it restores your arcane and Crystal’s Chakra magical power.” Jade said breathing heavily.  
“You okay mama Jade?” Dimetrius asked noticing her labored breathing.

“I’m alright sweetie I just haven’t cast three spells of that strength in a row in before. I have two shots left of that spell strength.” She said as her breathing returned to normal. 

Once Jade had gathered her will up and assured the two she would be alright they headed out again following the map. As they roamed the corridors they were surprised to find the rooms that the majority of the rooms had been cleared out of the enemies that were supposed to be there. Even the ones that were supposed to be guarded by powerful foes, and by the time they cleared every room with the exception of two they were very disturbed. 

“Those elementals couldn’t lie they were too weak to ignore or deceive me. We should have had several fights by now.” Dimetrius said as they sat outside what was supposed to be a small room with only one chest. 

“Perhaps they felt us destroy the Banshees’ and the Deathbringer and took off in fear.” Crystal said as she drank from her gourd.

“Or perhaps they were sent off by the master here. Either way we need to rest quickly and open the chest here so we can go after whatever she is.” Jade said drinking from a water skein.

Nodding Dimetrius went into the room and opened the chest and picked up the last piece of paper and the potion and coin. Suddenly as he opened his diaper bag to get the other pages they all flew out of his bag and the one in his hand jumped out as well and swirling around in a miniature tornado they organized themselves a certain way and with a flash recombined back into their true form of a very large heavy tome which looked as if it’s binding and covers were bound in flesh. 

Looking at the cover Dimetrius read the arcane words there without touching the book. “Behold the Necronomicon. Only those of strong mind and stronger heart will be allowed to view the portents within. Should one of pure evil look upon the contents they will see only spells which they already know but if one who is not evil reads this book they will learn spells to bridge the realms of the living and the dead though they will be forever corrupted and shall hence forth be evil.”

“Well we know what it meant by the cryptic words on those pages. Though since we can’t rightly let this book fall into the wrong hands I suggest we keep it with us despite it being evil. Keep it and never read it I can hide it away for good once we return to the capital.” Jade said.

“I don’t want to touch it nor do I want either of you to either…but you’re right mama Jade. We can’t leave this here to let the wrong hands get at it…just…be careful don’t let it open at all and never look inside.” Dimetrius said backing away from the book and staring at it in fear.

Nodding Jade put the book in her regular backpack keeping it away from the changing supplies and then she got up and said, “Let’s go put an end to this place and get the heck out of here. I don’t know about you two but it feels as if we’ve been down here long enough for the sun to rise. That may be why we haven’t come across any undead. They fear the sun more than anything else and can’t move during it.”

Nodding Crystal says, “I feel the press of the sun coming as well. We will have an advantage on the leader here.”

Going to the final room the three see two undead wearing full plate and wielding Greatswords which were an eerie faded blue color and looked well used. The bodies under the armor looked mostly decayed, faces blackish colored and filled with glowing sockets where the eyes should be.

“You three who enter our mistress’s home turn back now or you will be destroyed.” One said as he turned to the three holding his sword ready.

“Bugger off, you and your mistress have been marked for death for murdering the villagers in the nearby town.” Dimetrius said hitting both of them with a rainbow colored beam of energy from his hand and helmet vanishing one and turning the other to stone.

Walking forward Dimetrius kicked the petrified one hard in the gut causing it to shatter then looked at the door to the room they had been guarding and said, “how do you want to do this?”

“Stealth is not an option here nor is ambushing whatever is in the room might as well just open the door and go in.” Jade said moving forward so that she was in the front.

“Let’s prepare before we go in at least.” Dimetrius said touching Jade’s shoulder and then Crystals casting Draconic Might upon them then himself to give them all an advantage.

Opening the door Jade was stunned at the scene before her…


	11. Chapter 11: The Necromancer and the Dead Queen.

“So despite all the trials I have put in front of you, three of the four heroes who destroyed my minions in the mountains and the sea decided to come into my lair to face me down anyway. Very well you stupid brats I’ll give you the death you seek then I shall raise you all as my new servants to serve me for eternity.” The woman said as she sat on a throne made of bones, scarlet red hair flowing around her like a cloak, pale white skin like that of fresh snow and a dark aura around her so heavy that it was visible as like a shadow just barely seen, as she drank from a goblet. 

On the floor between the heroes and the Necromancer the three noticed so many bodies of fallen people and creatures that it was impossible to count them all and seeing their gaze the Necromancer said “Oh do you like my collection? I grant you it is not well sorted but it suits me just fine. Arise my puppets and hear the call of your mistress.” She said standing up and raising her hands like a musical conductor motions to a section to increase their volume.

As she beckoned over ninety bodies rose from the floor though the three could tell that wasn’t even half of it.

“Any plans on what to do here?” Crystal asked clearly worried due to the sheer number disadvantage.

Stepping in front of Jade Dimetrius extended his palm and shouted the command for his spell Prismatic spray which was different than the one for his Helm of Brilliance’s command and instantly all the risen undead in a sixty foot cone that were hit by it were either turned to stone or vanished all together he then used the command for his helmet and caused the remaining 45 undead that had been missed by the first blast to turn to stone and crumble instantly as they were also slammed with massive blasts of electricity the spell having taken on two properties out of sheer luck.

The effort of causing this however caused Dimetrius to start breathing heavily as the strain was high for casting two high level spells so quickly even if one was from an item. Jade seeing this moved in front of him while Crystal started making hand signs as she moved forward and before anyone could guess what she had done she vanished and all sound she made was gone.

Drawing her katana she snuck up behind the Necromancer and slashing hard carved through the shadow but left no physical mark on the Necromancer though the gouge in the shadow didn’t close as if it were a wound in of itself.

Screaming in pain the Necromancer kicked out behind her in a perfect back side kick striking Crystal hard in the torso slamming her back into the wall hard stunning her for a moment as stars exploded in front of her eyes as her head had rocked back and hit the wall. 

Jade pointing her fist at the Necromancer hit her with a beam of powerful light much like that of sunlight causing her to scream in even more pain as part of her shadowy armor seemed to evaporate from the point of contact with the beam. 

As she stopped screaming the Necromancer looked directly at Jade and said in a ragged voice that sounded very different from the one that had spoken before. “Kill me please. Before she has a chance to take over completely a GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.” Then four large balls of fire launched from her without warning slamming hard into Jade leaving a smoking burn on her front so bad she was knocked over causing her spell to stop as she was no longer able to concentrate on holding it together or keep her target in sight.

Opening his mouth wide Dimetrius fired off a line of lightning then a fireball from his helm saying, “Leave my second mommy alone.” 

Both attacks struck the shadow cloak over the necromancer causing more of the shadow to vanish exposing more of her body to the actual light of the torches. Crystal shaking off her dazedness slashed hard again this time in the opposite direction of her first one causing an X shaped gouge in the cloak and making the necromancer drop to her knees in pain for the briefest of moments. It seemed the creature was exceptionally weak to her enchanted blade for whatever reason.

Writhing on the ground in pain Jade was unable to do anything but try and cast a healing spell on herself she was lucky and had managed to get the spell to go off and repair much of the damage she had suffered though not near enough to fight at her full power. 

Slashing hard and spinning herself round the Necromancer attacked Crystal with a bastard sword that was made of the same material as her cloak, which explained why they hadn’t seen it until she had swung, and although Crystals new ninja outfit was indestructible the shadow blade passed right through her armor and sliced a good gash open on her chest bisecting her between her breasts though the cut was shallow it stung enough to make her a touch slower than she needed to be. And she returned the favor by slashing at the Necromancers neck though she missed and sliced through the chest between her own breasts going in the opposite direction. Then fast as a lightning bolt she came back up giving her another slash going the opposite way making the / into an X shaped slash matching her front and back now.

As the second slash took its toll on the shadow armor the Necromancer grabbed her head with one hand and said, “I only have a little time you three must hurry. Finish me before the mother of death takes over again. You can’t let her take control of my powers…” 

Dimetrius hearing this stopped his hand motions in mid spell and instantly regretted it as the cloak created a heavy crossbow and fired a bolt right through his left shoulder rending it unusable and making him cry out in pain as he fell backwards.

Jade catching Dimetrius pointed her finger of her free hand at the Necromancer and shot a beam of yellow orange light striking her in the back where the heart would be deep inside searing a big hole in the cloak and making her writhe more in pain. 

Focusing her chakra Crystal made the hand signs she needed lighting fast then held both palms out fingers bent and yelled, RAKURAI and electrocuting the necromancer from point blank causing her to shriek in pain one last time before falling over smoking heavily. 

Suddenly the necromancer slumps to the floor and a massive shadowy form took shape over her having left her completely as a cloak. The shadowy form solidifies slightly to make it apparent that it’s a female shape and it begins to speak though no mouth or eyes are apparent on it. “Curse you medaling fools. Thrice you have interfered with my plans. I warn you meddle in my affairs again and you shall feel the wrath of La Mere de Morte.” 

At this the shadowy form speeds off through the wall, a moment later the three hear a groan come from the body of the necromancer. 

As she struggles to sit up she notices the heroes and pleads with them to stay their hand that she wishes to explain what had happened. “My name is Claire and about 6 weeks ago I was battling a creature named La Mere de Mort, The Mother of Death, she is a vampire so ancient that it is thought that she is the matriarch of all vampires. During my battle with her we were both rendered unconscious and when I awoke I was in this place though not in control of my body I knew everything that was happening. I know that through me a creature more powerful than La Mere de Morte was testing my strength as a necromancer and committing great acts of evil. I believe that this creature is possibly a god or devil from this world though I’m not certain. Yes I said this world, I know that I’m on a planet that is not my own and in a time that is not my own though the inhabitants of this planet look much like those that live on my home world. Though I’m not accustomed to a world whose technological advancement seems to be equal to that of the dark ages of my planet, I believe that your world may have actually been more advanced than mine at one point and some great disaster happened to end it all. I offer this, though I have no way of knowing how to return to my world and I wish to return as soon as possible, I also wish to make amends for what was done with my powers though I never wished to do such evil acts.” 

At this the three decide to take her with them to the palace after they return to the town of Ghost Haven to give the news to the magister.

Back at the castle Clair tells her story to the king in the presence of the head of the university who is using a magical good called eyebright which will give the user a flash of red around the person who they are looking at if the person lies. As soon as Clair finishes her story the king turns to the mage and says, “Well Aram is she telling the truth.” 

“Well sire you know as well as I the properties of eyebright and all through her tale I saw not one flash of red.”

“Very well Aram you may go. Clair I accept that you regret what happened when your body was being controlled and I grant you a royal pardon for said actions. While you’re here I wish that you aid the kingdom by helping with any strange phenomena that may occur. This news of La Mere de Morte manifesting in this world is very disturbing. What concerns me even more is that she said my heroes here have interfered with her plans three times. While you’re here I shall have Aram and his assistants attempt to find a way to return you to your world, until then welcome to Sleinad Kcaj. You may make yourself at home here in the palace in one of the guest rooms near the magical library.” Turning to the Heroes he says; “To you my friends I say thank you once again for saving my kingdom.”

“It is our pleasure to eliminate the terror of Evil necromancy my liege. It is clear that despite having power to create and control undead Clair would not do such a thing in malice and would rather use her powers to aid those here.” Dimetrius said with the nods of Jade and Crystal.

“When possible Dimetrius I have a large favor to ask of you. Can you devote part of your time in assisting our guest in her quest to return home but also to study her power and if possible make it so she feels more welcome here and to use her powers for us if need be.” The king asked of him.

“I shall devote the time of my studies to assisting her but forgive me if I choose not to take on the powers of a necromancer myself. I have demons in my past life I would rather stay buried if possible.” Dimetrius said with a bow.

“Very well you may all go. Clair I shall have a servant show you to your quarters here. If there is anything you need ask Aram or Dimetrius while you are here.” The king said beckoning a servant forward to him before whispering in her ear as to where to place Claire.

Leaving Jade Crystal and Dimetrius head for his room first so he could drop off his non essentials and to get him changed. Once they were in his room Dimetrius blushed when Archimedes floated down from the rafters in his room and started to preen his head. “Well nice to see you too Archimedes anything new to report?” he asked as he set his bags down and got out the changing items he needed.   
“Nope the sparkly one was rather boring but I kept watching him just in case.” Archimedes said stopping the preening.

“Thank you Archimedes. I’ll leave some extra berries in your food dish tonight when I fill it up again.” Dimetrius said as she stripped off his pants so Jade could change him.

“none of those red ones you gave me last time they don’t sit well with me.” he said flapping up to the rafters again as Jade lay Dimetrius down on the bed and proceeded to change him.

Nodding Dimetrius sighed and let Jade work a million things racing through his head all of which were questions about what to say to Crystal once he had her alone. On the flight back on the carpet he had realized that the feelings of butterflies in his stomach and his overwhelming need to be around and try to keep her safe was something he hadn’t felt before even in his past life. He realized that he loved her and he was unsure on what she would do or say if he told her.

After a minute Jade pat the front of his diaper signaling him he was done and then she walked over to Crystal and gave her a pat on the bottom and a soft pinch in front to check if she needed it.  
Blushing Crystal said, “I’m still clean and dry Jade.” 

“Alright I just wanted to be sure. Your punishment we discussed when Dimetrius and Kalabad were napping in the cabin the day before we left is still going to happen but you can have the rest of the day to relax and do whatever just be at the temple orphanage by 8:00 so we can pick out who you’re going to help with before their bedtime.” Jade said giving Crystal a pat on the shoulder before leaving while Dimetrius rolled up the used diaper and the wipes before tossing them into the trash.

“Archimedes go find something to occupy yourself with for now.” he said since it was the perfect chance to get completely alone with Crystal as it was just him Crystal and the bird left in the room.  
Grumbling Archimedes flew out the window letting out a raven’s language caw at him calling him an chicken.

“Crystal...There’s something I need to talk to you about. And I don’t know what’s going to happen when I do.” He started rather nervous and clearly sweating.

Shifting on her feet Crystal said, “You can tell me anything Dimetrius I won’t bite.”

Sitting down on the bed Dimetrius pat it motioning for her to sit next to him then he bent over at the waist and rested his hands on his knees saying, “I…I don’t know when…or how but…something happened since we got back from the ocean. Something that has made me feel…strange…different around you.” 

Getting a concerned sad look on her face she says, “Dimetrius are you saying that you don’t want to be friends anymore?” 

“NO, no god’s no Crystal it’s not that at all. I...I feel exactly the opposite. I…I think I’ve been struck with a cherubs arrow in regards to you.” he said blushing a light purple at the end but rather scared that she had thought he had started to hate her.

“You mean you’re falling in love with me?” she said bright pink.

“Y…yes…I do love you. More than as a sister figure but…if you’re not feeling the same then that’s okay.” He said turning even darker purple out of embarrassment.

“I…I’ve felt something towards you too Dimetrius but at the same time I don’t know if we should be too quick about it. We have our duty to find the creature that is causing all this trouble and destroy her first of all. Then there is the matter of introducing you to my clan. If we go back and…and it’s farther than just dating momma and momma will be very angry. Not to mention the elders. There are rules I have to live by that might not let us be more than just close friends. We can date, and continue the baby play together but nothing more until you are introduced and accepted into the clan by the elders alright? And that means no sex as well.” she said sadly as she did care for the big blue goofball but she also didn’t want to get her hopes up and have them destroyed by her clan’s insane rules, if there were any that would prevent her being with the person she had started to see more interesting than as a little brother and apprentice.

“I don’t mind waiting on that last part. I’m not out to just do that with you. I respect you more than that. I just wanted to let you know how I feel and…and that if you saw me acting weird around you recently that was why. It’s embarrassing to admit this but…you’re the first one that has caused this feeling in me…ever…in either life. I want to make it work for us both. Do you wanna do something before you have to go to the orphanage to help Jade?” 

“I was thinking of maybe teaching you a new technique and then maybe if there is time we could do a bit of baby time for us both.” She said smiling at him.  
“Oh boy what technique master?” he said excitedly assuming his role as the student instinctively. 

“I think maybe you deserve to try your hand at learning my signature move. You know the thunderbolt chakra spell I use when we are out matched.” She said before laughing as he tackle hugged her out of gratitude and excitement that she was finally going to teach him an actual damage dealing chakra spell.

After they disentangled themselves from the snuggle glomping Dimetrius led Crystal to the magic practice yards so they could practice and not disturb the mages working on their projects. 

“Okay first thing you need to do is learn the hand signs. As you practice the move you will get faster at them so follow my movements now and repeat after me to help you memorize the sign order.”   
Crystal said standing next to him at the firing line of the projectile spell range.

Nodding he watched her hands close and mimicked her. “Tiger, Snake, Ox, Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Dragon, Tiger.” She said slowly making each symbol and naming them without using chakra at all.  
“Tiger, Snake, Ox, Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Dragon, Tiger.” He repeated smiling.

“Good now try it again while channeling your chakra. If you do it right you will feel a tingling in your hands as the lightning starts to form. When you finish point your hands at the target there and say “Rakurai.”” Crystal said turning him to the target and getting behind him just in case.

Taking a horse stance Dimetrius concentrated hard bringing up his chakra and started making the symbols however when he got to the last one he accidentally made the symbol for turtle instead of tiger and the resulting effect of the improper symbol caused him to fly backwards to the other end of the training yard from a soundless explosion. As he slammed through the fence and kept going he turned himself over and seeing the ground was just dirt and grass he did the first thing that came to mind and thrust both hands into the earth thus causing him to carve dual rivulets in the ground as his momentum slowed. When he finally came to a stop Crystal had caught up to him and she had a “really?” look on her face making him blush even more.

“I’m sorry Master I accidentally did turtle instead of tiger at the last symbol. It was an accident they are so similar and my finger just popped out of place for it.” He said ducking his head down and staying kneeled on the ground.

With a sigh Crystal said, “It’s okay Dimetrius I’m not mad. Just surprised you didn’t use your flying ability to stop instead of tearing up the ground. Or did you forget you could do that since you cast fly and permanency on yourself?” 

This made him blush more and feel even more ridiculous as he had forgotten he could fly. “Though in all fairness I only have been able to do it for just over a month.” He thought to himself.

“I’m sorry I did forget. I can repair it or do something useful since it’s about the perfect depth for planting. But after we finish training and you leave.” He said standing up and dusting off his hands.

“Alright then back up to the practice yard and this time focus. Mistakes like that are costly in battle. Don’t forget we’re down to three when we go adventuring now we can’t afford to lose a third of the party when it comes to our heavy hitters.” She said giving him a swat on the butt to get him moving.

Letting out a yelp of surprise he double timed it back to the training yard and got into position again and waited for her to take her place to watch and did his best to ignore the good natured ribbing that was sent his way as there had been other mages there practicing their combat spells.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and concentrated on his chakra pool and saw how much had been lost with that attempt and said, “Master can you see my chakra level? I’ve lost over half of it…is that how much goes into the spell or is it because I screwed up?”

Making a few hand signs she looks at him from another way and seeing his pool says, “That is from the mistake you should have only used a quarter of what you had. Now try again if you can cast it twice without mistakes we can go back to your room and I’ll help you relax for a bit.”

Nodding Dimetrius set to work being more careful with his and and finger placements and this time after making all the sings he thrust both hands forward, “RAKURAI” he yelled causing a modest peel of thunder and acid green bolts of lightning to launch from his fingers and hit the training dummy causing it to smoke but not take damage as they were all magically enchanted to absorb the spells and then flash words over them to indicate how much damage would have been caused.

Watching as the last of the lightning was absorbed the two saw the words “LIFE THREATENING.” Appear in deep black letters. The other mages in the yard stared in awe and started clapping for him.  
“Not bad Dimetrius that’s pretty damn good for someone who’s never cast the spell before.” Someone from the crowd said making him blush and rub his head.

“He’s right Dimetrius that spell is Lethal 99.9% of the time the fact you were get to life threatening without having cast it before goes to show you have talent. Now do it again, and if you get lethal this time I’ll buy you something special from that shop we go to.” Crystal said giving him incentive to try harder.

Sweating heavily having almost exhausted his Chakra he nods and wipes his brow on his sleeve then does a few calming breaths before making the symbols and channeling what he had left, this time he did the symbols faster and when he finished he thrust his palms out and yelled, “RAKURAI.” This time there was a deafening *CRACK* as the bolts left his fingers and struck the dummy. While the dummy was able to absorb the spell it was not able to absorb all of the force of the strike itself and it bent backwards a bit at the base which was made of solid steel

“EXTREMELY LETHAL” popped up over the dummy as the lightning vanished.

Unfortunately Dimetrius collapsed to his knees after the spell ended and he proceeded to flood and soil his diaper which above all else showed how much power had used for the spell.

Crystal walking over helped him to his feet and whispered, “Good job dear. But let’s get you inside and changed. Maybe I should play mommy instead of baby with you and give you a nice bath as well.” 

Panting hard as he was attemping to try and recover some strength he chuckled and whispered back, “okay mommy. I’m a stinky baby and need a baff.”

As they passed the other mages Dimetrius was given several congratulatory claps on the back as they were proud he was able to learn so fast. One of the girls however gave him a swat on the butt making him yelp and blush as the mess was moved and she giggled and followed saying quietly. “So you are wearing one. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make it worse. Let me help you to your room. I’m Tina.” 

“Thanks, I’m Crystal and this is my apprentice Dimetrius.” Crystal said nodding for her to take Dimetrius’s other arm to sling over her shoulders to help support him.

“I’ve seen you around the mages wing but never in the labs or on the grounds till today. I’m sorry if it sounds rude but what do you do that lets you be here?” Dimetrius said trying to be polite and barely managing it.

“I…I would rather not say outside where others can hear us.” She said blushing hard.

“Alright but you have to promise to tell when we get to his room. He has a spell on it that prevents eavesdropping of any kind so you can safely speak there.” Crystal said kindly.

“I promise.” Tina said as they got him inside the castle and started down the corridor. Once in his room and the door was shut she turned her back so as to give him some privacy and said, “I’m a witch. I keep it hidden by pretending to be a seer or other things with minor magical talent but I am a powerful witch. Most people are afraid of my kind but…well after I heard of a half dragon who was saving the kingdom and then hearing rumors that he was reincarnated by the gods to repay for some bad things he did in a past life I figured that maybe if…if he had room on his team I might be able to help…and it would prove that not all witches are evil bitches.” She sounded sad at the end as though she had been called just that and worse. 

“Well…you are right I am reincarnated and I am repaying for my sins in my past life but. I’ve heard the rumors about me as well. Don’t believe everything you hear about me or my friends.” Dimetrius said as Crystal untapped his diaper and started wiping him clean.

“I don’t care if you’re a flying purple monkey with ten legs. What you are, is not WHO you are. I would be fine with you joining us to show your worth to the world. I do have one question though.” Crystal said as she lifted Dimetrius up and moved the used diaper away and put the clean one in place.

“Yes ma’am?” Tina said twirling a bit of her hair around her fingers nervously.

“Do you have a diaper on or wear diapers at all? You seemed too eager to check if my little brother, apprentice and now boyfriend was wearing one.” Crystal asked.

“Oh well…um…no. I don’t have one on but…I do wear them at night. They help me sleep better and over the past year I’ve had a lot of bedtime accidents so I figured it was best to start wearing them then, although I do sometimes wear during the day if I feel really sad or something.” She said blushing hard.

“Well then just so you know when were out as a group. You, me, Dimetrius and our leader Jade you have to tell her right away if you plan on wearing during the day and no covering them up when you go to bed diapers have to be exposed while camped. Those that break the rule get spanked but good.” Crystal said firmly as she started to rub powder and diaper rash cream into Dimetrius’s skin.

“That’s right and if you are diapered you have to obey all the rules mama Jade puts down or you get punishments as well. Not always spankings but sometimes them depending on what rule you break.”   
Dimetrius said as Crystal taped up the diaper snugly on him.

“Oh. Well I don’t mind that. So long as she is clear I don’t mind following the rules of the group. So…um…I’ll just go now and if you get a new mission my door is six doors down the hall going right outside yours and it’s on the left side. I turned the door pink because I wanted to be different from the others.” She said leaving and blushing hard.

Once the door was shut and Dimetrius and Crystal were alone he said, “So it looks like we have a new member. I wonder how well she will do in the field?” 

“Who knows, the point is we treat her just the same as we would anyone else who joins and give her a fair chance. Maybe we should invite her over a few times to join us with this when I have free time and get her used to being around us and what not. Maybe ask Jade if we can borrow her Cabin and camp there since our last try was interrupted and we didn’t get a full weekend out of it.” Crystal said picking Dimetrius up and carrying him to the rocking chair next to a cold box where he kept the over-sized baby bottles with the puncture proof nipples full of milk. Sitting down she opened it and pulled one out and cradled him in her lap then popped the bottle in and proceeded to rock in the chair gently.

Suckling on the bottle Dimetrius let out a smile and a sigh and nuzzled into his master, big sister figure and now his girlfriend. By the time the bottle was finished Dimetrius had been nursing on auto-piolet as he had fallen asleep content to be held. Putting the bottle down in the rack he kept for the empty ones Crystal looked down at the sleeping dragon boy and smiled then kissed his head and closed her eyes for a nap of her own. 

Several hours later at the orphanage…

“Alright Crystal here’s the deal. Our children here each have a file they are sorted from 1 star children, which means they require little disciplinary action, to 5 stars, which indicate constant discipline needed. I’m not going to be so cruel as to make you choose one of the five stars for your punishment but you will have to choose from between 3 and a half to four star children. I have six of them here with various qualities and you will have to pick three to take care of and mentor for the duration of your punishment.”

“Yes ma’am I understand.” Crystal said holding her hand out for the files to look them over.

“Before I give them to you I’m going to explain the rules here. Swearing is an automatic mouth soaping and time out. However there are a few words that also earn a spanking. Here’s the list of them and the number of swats we give for them next to each one. Second each child, even the 1 star children, have their own personal paddle for spankings. If they earn one they have to take you to their room and give you the paddle if they refuse to then you bring them here and use this one.” She points to the gold paddle on the wall. “And add 10 swats on top of the initial punishment. Thanks to the wish from that Genie on our first mission this place has enough bathtubs and showers for every child so everyone is able to take their baths when they are told to. Refusal first refusal gets a warning, second refusal loses their post bath treats third refusal gets three swats with the paddle and increases by three for each one after. They’ve already had dinner but meals are at 6 am, noon and 8 pm with a healthy snack around 4pm. They either clean their plates or they sit at the table until they decide to do so. If at lunch and Dinner they choose not to clean their plate by the time desert is served they miss out on it. Some of the kids have allergies to certain foods so I made sure to give you ones that did not so they can’t try and pull the “I’m ‘lergic to that” on you. Finally they are all required to attend the morning services to Pelor. That takes place after breakfast. I won’t force you to worship with us your job really is to just make sure the kids you choose don’t screw around and be disruptive. Other than that you can use your own judgment on how to discipline them.” Jade said handing over the six files to Crystal. 

Taking the files Crystal looked at them thoroughly though it looked quick and finally she chose a pair of girls both at 4 star discipline seeing that they had something about them that might make it easy for her to work with. Both were afraid of being alone, the dark and both required diapers 24/7. She also chose a 3 star boy named Michelangelo “Mikey” who’s main trouble area was paying attention closely and being reckless. Mikey needed diapers but was not embarrassed by it but rather enjoyed them despite his needs. “I’ll take the twin girls Diana and Shiera and...Mikey. I have a feeling that the reason they are 4 star children is because of their fears. I can help them learn to not fear the dark and understand that it is okay to be alone sometimes and that they are never alone as long as they have love and a deity to worship even if it isn’t Pelor. I’m not saying I’m going to make them turn away from Pelor though I just mean that I am going to help them respect ALL the deities and to find the one they fit in with most. As for Mikey it seems like he just needs someone to help him learn to focus and stop taking risks.” 

“Very Well Crystal you hold on to their files so you can study them a bit more. In the mean time I’ll show you to them and let you get started. Due to their age their bedtime is in an hour so they can have time to get to know you before bed.” Jade said taking the rest of the files and putting them back in the cabinet by her desk.

Nodding crystal stood up and waited for Jade then followed the woman to a room nearby just down the hall from her own and Jades and stopped when the older woman did. Rapping hard on the door Jade says, “Diana, Shiera, Michelangelo open up. I have your new mentor here and she is ready to meet you three before your bedtime.” 

Opening the door a little boy with an eager freckled face looked up wearing nothing but an over-sized shirt and a thick diaper though the only reason it was obvious to anyone who could see him that he had the diaper on was the crinkling sound he made as he walked through the door and hugged Crystal about the legs. “Hi I’m Mikey.” He said eagerly as two girls climbed down off the top bunk of the triple bunk bed dressed in plain pajamas with obvious diaper bulges under their bottoms.

“Hello Mikey I am Crystal. I’ll be mentoring you and your sisters for a week at the least.” Crystal said Kneeling down to return his hug.

“Great another wannabe matron last thing we need.” The girl with a dour look on her face said as she crossed her arms.

“Quite the contrary miss. I am here to help you because I want to be not because I want to be the matron here. I’m relatively easy going but make no mistake punishments will be handed out promptly if you choose to earn one. I would rather we get along and do things that are fun rather than be mean to each other and have hurt feelings.” Crystal said looking over to the girl who had spoken who looked to be about 9 years old to Mikey’s 5.

“Come on Shiera don’t hate her before she has had a chance to be our friend.” The other girl said taking her sisters hand and pulling her gently along.

“Girls I expect you to behave and do what Crystal tells you. If you give her too many reasons to punish you I am revoking your privileges of allowance and treats until midwinter am I clear?” Jade said getting their attention.

“But that’s not fair.” The girls chorused together.

“What is not fair is your misbehaving so much and causing Me and all the assistants I have to have to stop what we are doing to discipline you both for your various indiscretions. I mean it behave and earn minimal punishments or no allowance or treats for six months.” She said making them both hang their heads sniffing. Turning to Mikey he says, “The same goes for you mister but since you’re younger you will lose them for 3 months.” 

Mikey looked crushed but nodded and hugged into Crystal tighter. Crystal then pulled the girls into the hug as well to comfort them. “Alright then I leave them to you Crystal. Their bedtime is in just over an hour so make sure they go to bed on time and I’ll see you in the morning. If you wish to “do that thing” while you are hear you may do so but you will have to come to me if you do to have it taken care of.” She said cryptically so the kids wouldn’t understand though Crystal was perfectly clear on her meaning.

After Jade left Crystal took the girls and Mikey back into the room and shut the door then sat on the floor so they could be on a more equal level and pulled them all into her lap. “Now why don’t we get to know each other a bit before bedtime? If you cooperate and ask good questions as well as answer mine I will tuck you all in and tell you a story before you go to sleep.” She said. 

“What kind of story?” Diana asked looking eager.

“I’m going to tell you a legend from my home land, filled with mystery, enchantment, danger, magic, monsters and a hero.” Crystal said causing their eyes to widen with each word.

“So you’re not from here? I didn’t fink so acause of how you are dressed but I don’t go outside much anymore so I wasn’t sure.” Mikey said as he looked her over again.

“No I’m not from here. I come from a land far far to the east, past the great southern desert, past the mountain border of the exiled Dwarves and farther still. Beyond the mountains is another desert and then a vast city on the coast similar to this city. Beyond that sea is where I come from. It is faster to travel by boat but not by much. We have tree’s taller than the castle here that are very strong but also very flexible called bamboo. Their width is about oh…a little wider than my bicep on average. We have animals there you’ve never seen before that are beautiful and dangerous and just as beautiful.”   
Crystal said noting they were hanging on her every word. 

“So what do you do? I mean Jade is a cleric of Pelor; the king is a favored soul and paladin as well as a sorcerer. What are you in that sense?” Shiera said getting out of Crystals lap but sitting down in front of her so she could look up easily without hurting her neck.

“I am a Ninja. We are trained to fight in the shadows like a rogue but we also use the energy the body naturally makes called Chakra to use special things called Ninjutsu, and to enhance our Taijutsu or to translate we can use a kind of magic or enhance our physical skills. My uniform here allows me to hide everything but my eyes and hands though I do have gloves to cover them and blend perfectly into the shadows so I can’t be seen. It also helps us to move without noise.” 

“That’s so cool can you show us some of the things you can do?” Mikey asked excitedly bouncing in her lap.

“Not tonight no we don’t have time but if you three behave and do what you are asked tomorrow I’ll show you a few things before dinner.” Crystal said kindly. “Now I have a couple questions for each of you and then you can ask me some more. And just so you know I can’t belied to. I always know when someone is trying to.” She added causing them to nod and listen.

“Alright first off I know all three of you wear diapers from reading your files. What I want to know is how do you feel about them and if you feel bad that you need them I want to know why?” 

“I never really thought about it. I mean nobody makes fun of anyone for wearing them thanks to the King making it against the rules to do so but…I don’t really know. I guess I am indifferent. I mean I don’t mind the feel of them but I do get upset if I…” Diana said shifting in Crystals lap nervously at the end.

“She hates it when she has a stinky accident. I do too but I hate having either kind. When I’m dry and clean though I don’t mind them. Especially if I got a spanking cause they make it easier to sit down.” Shiera said hugging her sister.

Hugging the girls as well Crystal said, “It’s okay I understand. I don’t really care for a soggy or stinky butt either but I do enjoy the feel of diapers so I wear them sometimes. And you’re right Shiera they do make sitting easier if you just got a spanking though you three are going to do your best to avoid them right?” 

“You do?” they all said together.

“Yes I do. I even have some of my stash here in my room, how about you Mikey how do you feel about your diapers?” 

“I don’t mind them. I think they are cute and fun and comfy and I like the crinkle sound when I walk or sit or move while sitting.” He said at a very rapid pace causing the girls to giggle at him. 

“Well I have to admit the crinkle sound is a big attraction. Now I have one more question, then you can ask one more before I get you three into bed and tell you a story. What is your favorite treat or thing to do?” 

This made them go quiet for a bit as they were all not sure what their favorite was but after a bit Shiera says, “Well…I like snuggles and to be carried like a baby sometimes. My favorite treat is ice cream.”  
“I like snuggles too and coloring and stuff. Um…I think it’s a tie on butterscwoch and cookies.” Diana said cutely as she twirled a finger through her hair in thought.

“Um…um…um…I like to run round in just my diapy when it’s hot outside but miss Jade no let’s me do it much. Um…if not that I like to color lots too and tweats I like to get new coloring stuff for just me. Though I’m a good boy and share if someone wants to play with me.” Mikey said before letting out a big yawn.

“Well that is very good of you Mikey. Alright then what would you all like to ask me for your last question tonight discuss it with each other before you ask to be fair.” Crystal said as she checked Mikey’s diaper and the girl’s diapers just in case which made them all blush though they behaved themselves to avoid punishment.

After a quick discussion the three agree with what to ask and Mikey says, “Well since you are from another land I guess you have your own gods that you worship. Who are they and which one do you serve?” 

“Ah that is a very good question and it lets me address something with Diana and Shiera that is in their files. First off we do not call them Gods we refer to them as Kami there are so many of them that it would be impossible to list them all tonight. However the major ones are, Kami of Light’s Breath, Fire’s Breath, Natures Grove, Water’s Castle, and Shadow’s Keep. I serve the last one and she is kind to those who do right by her. One of my duties as a servant of the Kami of Shadow’s Keep is to help those who fear the shadows and darkness to understand that there is nothing to fear of them. Girls I know you both are afraid of the dark and require a light globe to be on with a dim glow while you sleep and I will let that be. However while I am taking care of you two and Mikey I am going to teach you three all about my dark mistress and her benevolence. I will show you ways to get used to being in the dark so you can be more comfortable with it. Now hop into bed you three and I’ll tell you a story.”  
Letting out a groan of disappointment the three get up and get into their respective bunks, Diana on the top, Shiera in the middle bunk and Mikey on the bottom. Climbing the ladder Crystal tucked the blankets around Diana then gave her a kiss on the head and did the same for Shiera and then Mikey then said, “Let’s see…oh yes this one is a favorite of my family to tell. Eons ago there was a female warrior; her blade was known far and wide in our lands though her name was unknown. She traveled from province to province taking on any job befitting a warrior spirit from slaying of troublesome monsters to overthrowing a tyrannical lord. One day she came across a village that was burned out and utterly destroyed. As she searched through the remains for any survivors she found a little girl who had managed to hide from the destruction underneath an overturned wagon. “Little girl what happened here?” the warrior said. “A black monster came and killed everyone and burned down our homes. He ate everyone he could and grew with each person.” 

The three watching her eyes wide were wondering what could happen next though their fatigue was evident as they kept yawning.

““Little one come with me and let me protect you. Show me the way this monster went and I will destroy it for you.” the warrior said. With a whimper and a cry the girl came from under the wagon and climbed up on the warriors back and pointed the way. As they traveled for six days and six nights they saw the path of destruction that had been carved by the monster and in each town they came across they gathered up more children. Eventually they found a wagon that was not destroyed and filled it with the children. Putting the harness of it over her shoulders she pulled the wagon following the direction of the children on the path of movement. By the time they reached the mountains where the beast had lain itself down for a rest the wagon had thirty children and weighed as much as the average troll with their weight. The warrior having pulled it the entire time set down the harness filled with new strength and new life at being able to avenge the children’s families and friends. Kneeling down she drew her blade and started a chant that she had taught the children as they traveled. Chanting along with her the children let all their hope and love fill themselves and the warrior who promised them revenge and peace. Standing up she charged the sleeping monster and with a mighty yell woke it up as it is dishonorable and cowardly to slay a foe who cannot see his fate coming. With a roar and a flash the beast drew a mighty blade of fire and shadow to defend itself and swung it violently to keep the warrior at bay.” 

At this the girls let out an “eep.” And Mikey gasped shocked and started to shake a little scared for the warrior.

“KLANG CRASH BOOOM. The warrior and the demon fought ferociously their weapons striking hard neither giving way, the footfalls of the demon tearing rivers of earth up through the mountainside and the fireball spells he cast exploding as they missed the warrior and hit the mountain. As they fought the children’s voices grew louder as they chanted over and over. As their chanting grew louder the sword of the warrior glowed brighter and brighter eventually drowning out the shadows of the demons blade. With a mighty yell the warrior slashed hard aiming for the unprotected neck of the demon. Raising its sword to defend itself the demon managed to block the attack or so he thought. With a resounding KLANG the sword of the warrior shattered the blade of the demon and bit deep into its neck. As the demon bled the soul and essence of it were drawn into the blade of the warrior. Collapsing to the ground the warrior took her blade which now contained the pure essence of the demon and sheathed it then turned to the children who had helped her slay the demon that had terrorized them and destroyed their homes. “Your sorrow has been slain but now you must decide. Help each other as you have helped me and build your lives again with the elder children being in charge. Or I shall stay and help you myself but you will serve me as my subjects in which I will provide for you all that you need and shall ever want and only ask you to do what is needed for me.” The children looked at each other then as one swarmed the warrior and cried out as one. “We love you momma. Please don’t leave us in the Shadow’s Keep alone. And so the warrior came to be the first Matron and Queen of Shadow’s keep. It is from her line that my clan is descended and why I serve the dark lady willingly. For without her blessing from the chant taught by the warrior to the children none would be alive today in my home.” Crystal finished. 

Yawning the three smiled and Mikey said, “So you’re ancestor was the first servant of a Greater Kami…that’s cool.”

“Mama Crystal can you tell us another story tomorrow night.” Diana said sleepily not realizing she had said Mama.

“If you are good I will. Now off to sleep with you three. I’ll come in in a couple hours to check you but if you need a change before then I’m just down the hall on the left.” She said tapping the light globe to turn it to a very dim glow before shutting the door


End file.
